Analysts Have Made A Financial Statement On The Williams Companies, Inc.'s (NYSE:WMB) First-Quarter Report

Last week, you might have seen that The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) released its quarterly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 3.0% to US$57.06 in the past week. Results overall were respectable, with statutory earnings of US$0.56 per share roughly in line with what the analysts had forecast. Revenues of US$3.0b came in 3.6% ahead of analyst predictions. 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.

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Following the latest results, Williams Companies' ten analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$12.1b in 2025. This would be a meaningful 9.4% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to ascend 12% to US$2.10. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$11.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.09 in 2025. So it looks like there's been no major change in sentiment following the latest results, although the analysts have made a small lift in to revenue forecasts.

View our latest analysis for Williams Companies

Even though revenue forecasts increased, there was no change to the consensus price target of US$60.12, suggesting the analysts are focused on earnings as the driver of value creation. 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 Williams Companies, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$74.00 and the most bearish at US$41.76 per share. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Williams Companies' past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that Williams Companies' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 13% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 5.9% 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 3.7% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Williams Companies is expected to grow much faster than its industry.

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. Happily, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting them to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$60.12, 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 Williams Companies. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have estimates - from multiple Williams Companies analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 3 warning signs for Williams Companies (2 are a bit unpleasant!) that you need to be mindful 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.