Weatherford International plc Just Recorded A 25% EPS Beat: Here's What Analysts Are Forecasting Next

Last week, you might have seen that Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) released its third-quarter result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 5.7% to US$80.35 in the past week. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$1.4b were what the analysts expected, Weatherford International surprised by delivering a (statutory) profit of US$2.06 per share, an impressive 25% above what was forecast. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

See our latest analysis for Weatherford International

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Weatherford International's eight analysts is for revenues of US$5.84b in 2025. This would reflect a modest 5.4% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to rise 7.4% to US$7.89. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$5.98b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$8.35 in 2025. The analysts are less bullish than they were before these results, given the reduced revenue forecasts and the small dip in earnings per share expectations.

Despite the cuts to forecast earnings, there was no real change to the US$132 price target, showing that the analysts don't think the changes have a meaningful impact on its intrinsic value. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on Weatherford International, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$155 and the most bearish at US$84.00 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's clear from the latest estimates that Weatherford International's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 4.3% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 3.4% p.a. over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 5.7% per year. It seems obvious that, while the future growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, Weatherford International is expected to grow slower than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. On the negative side, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Weatherford International. 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 Weatherford International going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Before you take the next step you should know about the 2 warning signs for Weatherford International that we have uncovered.

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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.