Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. Beat Analyst Estimates: See What The Consensus Is Forecasting For This Year

It's been a good week for Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE:MSGS) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest second-quarter results, and the shares gained 2.6% to US$191. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$327m were in line with what the analysts predicted, Madison Square Garden Sports surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$0.59 per share, a notable 12% above expectations. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Madison Square Garden Sports

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Madison Square Garden Sports' six analysts is for revenues of US$907.7m in 2024. This would reflect a reasonable 3.2% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to ascend 13% to US$1.72. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$908.6m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.88 in 2024. So it looks like there's been a small decline in overall sentiment after the recent results - there's been no major change to revenue estimates, but the analysts did make a small dip in their earnings per share forecasts.

The consensus price target held steady at US$246, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on Madison Square Garden Sports, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$285 and the most bearish at US$220 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Madison Square Garden Sports is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Madison Square Garden Sports' past performance and to peers in the same industry. For example, we noticed that Madison Square Garden Sports' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 6.5% growth to the end of 2024 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 0.2% a year 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 revenue grow 8.1% per year. So although Madison Square Garden Sports' revenue growth is expected to improve, it is still expected to grow slower than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest concern is that the analysts reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds could lay ahead for Madison Square Garden Sports. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will 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 estimates - from multiple Madison Square Garden Sports analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You still need to take note of risks, for example - Madison Square Garden Sports has 4 warning signs (and 1 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about.

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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.