Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC) Released Earnings Last Week And Analysts Lifted Their Price Target To US$13.13

Investors in Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC) had a good week, as its shares rose 3.8% to close at US$10.05 following the release of its full-year results. It looks like the results were a bit of a negative overall. While revenues of US$378m were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings were less than expected, missing estimates by 4.0% to hit US$0.85 per share. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. 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 Lincoln Educational Services

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Lincoln Educational Services' four analysts is for revenues of US$414.4m in 2024. This would reflect a solid 9.6% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to plunge 45% to US$0.46 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$379.9m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.46 in 2024. So it looks like there's been no major change in sentiment following the latest results, although the analysts have made a small increase to to revenue forecasts.

The consensus price target increased 12% to US$13.13, with an improved revenue forecast carrying the promise of a more valuable business, in time. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on Lincoln Educational Services, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$14.00 and the most bearish at US$12.00 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Lincoln Educational Services is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. It's clear from the latest estimates that Lincoln Educational Services' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 9.6% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 7.8% p.a. over the past five years. Other similar companies in the industry (with analyst coverage) are also forecast to grow their revenue at 11% per year. Lincoln Educational Services is expected to grow at about the same rate as its industry, so it's not clear that we can draw any conclusions from its growth relative to competitors.

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. They also upgraded their revenue forecasts, although the latest estimates suggest that Lincoln Educational Services will grow in line with the overall industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Lincoln Educational Services going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here..

However, before you get too enthused, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Lincoln Educational Services (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of.

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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.