The Axfood AB (publ) (STO:AXFO) First-Quarter Results Are Out And Analysts Have Published New Forecasts

Last week, you might have seen that Axfood AB (publ) (STO:AXFO) released its quarterly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 2.9% to kr281 in the past week. Results were roughly in line with estimates, with revenues of kr20b and statutory earnings per share of kr2.59. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

View our latest analysis for Axfood

Following the latest results, Axfood's five analysts are now forecasting revenues of kr84.3b in 2024. This would be an okay 2.7% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to step up 11% to kr12.53. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of kr84.7b and earnings per share (EPS) of kr12.53 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of kr293, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on Axfood, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at kr330 and the most bearish at kr250 per share. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggeststhe analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that Axfood's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 3.6% annualised growth rate until the end of 2024 being well below the historical 12% p.a. growth over the last five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 4.7% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Axfood is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at kr293, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Axfood. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Axfood going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.