Prudential Financial, Inc. Just Beat Revenue Estimates By 17%

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) just released its latest quarterly results and things are looking bullish. It was a positive result, with revenues and statutory earnings per share (EPS) both performing well. Revenues were 17% higher than the analysts had forecast, at US$16b, while EPS of US$4.01 beat analyst models by 7.7%. 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. 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 last week's earnings report, Prudential Financial's nine analysts are forecasting 2026 revenues to be US$58.3b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to surge 87% to US$13.82. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$57.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$13.95 in 2026. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for Prudential Financial

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$116, 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. There are some variant perceptions on Prudential Financial, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$134 and the most bearish at US$92.00 per share. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await Prudential Financial shareholders.

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. From these estimates it looks as though the analysts expect the years of declining revenue to come to an end, given the flat forecast out to 2026. That would be a definite improvement, given that the past five years have seen revenue shrink 0.5% annually. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to grow 5.1% annually. So it's pretty clear that, although revenues are improving, Prudential Financial is still expected to grow slower than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that Prudential Financial's revenue is expected to 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.

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 Prudential Financial going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You can also view our analysis of Prudential Financial's balance sheet, and whether we think Prudential Financial is carrying too much debt, for free on our platform here.

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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.