Need To Know: Analysts Just Made A Substantial Cut To Their Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC) Estimates

The analysts covering Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory forecasts for this year. Both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) estimates were cut sharply as analysts factored in the latest outlook for the business, concluding that they were too optimistic previously. At US$81.69, shares are up 4.8% in the past 7 days. Investors could be forgiven for changing their mind on the business following the downgrade; but it's not clear if the revised forecasts will lead to selling activity.

Following the latest downgrade, the 19 analysts covering Brunswick provided consensus estimates of US$5.3b revenue in 2024, which would reflect a discernible 8.0% decline on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are anticipated to descend 13% to US$4.60 in the same period. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$5.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.57 in 2024. Indeed, we can see that the analysts are a lot more bearish about Brunswick's prospects, administering a substantial drop in revenue estimates and slashing their EPS estimates to boot.

Check out our latest analysis for Brunswick

Analysts made no major changes to their price target of US$88.08, suggesting the downgrades are not expected to have a long-term impact on Brunswick's valuation.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Brunswick's past performance and to peers in the same industry. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 15% by the end of 2024. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 11% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 3.0% annually for the foreseeable future. It's pretty clear that Brunswick's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that analysts cut their earnings per share estimates, expecting a clear decline in business conditions. Unfortunately analysts also downgraded their revenue estimates, and industry data suggests that Brunswick's revenues are expected to grow slower than the wider market. We're also surprised to see that the price target went unchanged. Still, deteriorating business conditions (assuming accurate forecasts!) can be a leading indicator for the stock price, so we wouldn't blame investors for being more cautious on Brunswick after the downgrade.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Brunswick going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are downgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com