Boston Scientific Corporation Just Beat Analyst Forecasts, And Analysts Have Been Updating Their Predictions

Investors in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) had a good week, as its shares rose 6.3% to close at US$101 following the release of its quarterly results. Boston Scientific reported US$4.7b in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.45 beat expectations, being 7.3% higher than what the analysts expected. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Boston Scientific after the latest results.

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Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Boston Scientific's 32 analysts is for revenues of US$19.4b in 2025. This would reflect a notable 11% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to surge 37% to US$1.88. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$19.1b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.87 in 2025. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

View our latest analysis for Boston Scientific

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$117, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. The most optimistic Boston Scientific analyst has a price target of US$135 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$84.11. 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.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's clear from the latest estimates that Boston Scientific's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 14% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 11% 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 7.9% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Boston Scientific to grow faster than the wider 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, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster 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.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for Boston Scientific going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Boston Scientific 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.