Bearish: Analysts Just Cut Their Limoneira Company (NASDAQ:LMNR) Revenue and EPS estimates

The latest analyst coverage could presage a bad day for Limoneira Company (NASDAQ:LMNR), with the analysts making across-the-board cuts to their statutory estimates that might leave shareholders a little shell-shocked. Revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts were both revised downwards, with analysts seeing grey clouds on the horizon.

Following the downgrade, the most recent consensus for Limoneira from its four analysts is for revenues of US$177m in 2022 which, if met, would be a modest 6.1% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 50% to US$0.18. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$200m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.32 in 2022. There looks to have been a major change in sentiment regarding Limoneira's prospects, with a measurable cut to revenues and the analysts now forecasting a loss instead of a profit.

See our latest analysis for Limoneira

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. The period to the end of 2022 brings more of the same, according to the analysts, with revenue forecast to display 8.2% growth on an annualised basis. That is in line with its 8.0% annual growth over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenues grow 3.2% per year. So although Limoneira is expected to maintain its revenue growth rate, it's definitely expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest low-light for us was that the forecasts for Limoneira dropped from profits to a loss this year. While analysts did downgrade their revenue estimates, these forecasts still imply revenues will perform better than the wider market. After a cut like that, investors could be forgiven for thinking analysts are a lot more bearish on Limoneira, and a few readers might choose to steer clear of the stock.

As you can see, the analysts clearly aren't bullish, and there might be good reason for that. We've identified some potential issues with Limoneira's financials, such as recent substantial insider selling. Learn more, and discover the 1 other flag we've identified, for 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 that insiders are buying.

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