HUYA Inc. Just Missed Earnings With A Surprise Loss - Here Are Analysts Latest Forecasts

One of the biggest stories of last week was how HUYA Inc. (NYSE:HUYA) shares plunged 24% in the week since its latest annual results, closing yesterday at US$3.21. Things were not great overall, with a surprise (statutory) loss of CN¥0.21 per share on revenues of CN¥6.1b, even though the analysts had been expecting a profit. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

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Following last week's earnings report, HUYA's nine analysts are forecasting 2025 revenues to be CN¥6.18b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Earnings are expected to improve, with HUYA forecast to report a statutory profit of CN¥0.67 per share. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of CN¥6.45b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥1.52 in 2025. From this we can that sentiment has definitely become more bearish after the latest results, leading to lower revenue forecasts and a pretty serious reduction to earnings per share estimates.

View our latest analysis for HUYA

The analysts made no major changes to their price target of US$4.53, suggesting the downgrades are not expected to have a long-term impact on HUYA's valuation. 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 HUYA analyst has a price target of US$6.56 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$3.60. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that HUYA is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the HUYA's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's also worth noting that the years of declining revenue look to have come to an end, with the forecast stauing flat to the end of 2025. Historically, HUYA's top line has shrunk approximately 9.9% annually over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to grow 9.7% annually. Although HUYA's revenues are expected to improve, it seems that it is still expected to grow slower than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Unfortunately, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates underperformance compared to the wider industry. Even so, earnings per share are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. The consensus price target held steady at US$4.53, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have forecasts for HUYA going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

We also provide an overview of the HUYA Board and CEO remuneration and length of tenure at the company, and whether insiders have been buying the stock, 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.