The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) First-Quarter Results: Here's What Analysts Are Forecasting For This Year

It's been a good week for The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest first-quarter results, and the shares gained 9.0% to US$2.55. It was a respectable set of results; while revenues of US$524m were in line with analyst predictions, statutory losses were 14% smaller than expected, with E.W. Scripps losing US$0.22 per share. 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. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

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After the latest results, the consensus from E.W. Scripps' five analysts is for revenues of US$2.17b in 2025, which would reflect a chunky 12% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. The company is forecast to report a statutory loss of US$0.95 in 2025, a sharp decline from a profit over the last year. Before this latest report, the consensus had been expecting revenues of US$2.15b and US$0.86 per share in losses. While this year's revenue estimates held steady, there was also a notable increase in loss per share expectations, suggesting the consensus has a bit of a mixed view on the stock.

See our latest analysis for E.W. Scripps

As a result, there was no major change to the consensus price target of US$5.45, with the analysts implicitly confirming that the business looks to be performing in line with expectations, despite higher forecast losses. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. The most optimistic E.W. Scripps analyst has a price target of US$10.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$1.00. We would probably assign less value to the analyst forecasts in this situation, because such a wide range of estimates could imply that the future of this business is difficult to value accurately. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the E.W. Scripps' past performance and to peers in the same industry. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 16% annualised decline to the end of 2025. That is a notable change from historical growth of 7.4% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 2.9% per year. It's pretty clear that E.W. Scripps' revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to note is the forecast of increased losses next year, suggesting all may not be well at E.W. Scripps. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$5.45, 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 E.W. Scripps. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for E.W. Scripps going out to 2027, and you can see them 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.