Upgrade: Analysts Just Made A Captivating Increase To Their CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASI) Forecasts

Shareholders in CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASI) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects. The market may be pricing in some blue sky too, with the share price gaining 10% to US$1.31 in the last 7 days. We'll be curious to see if these new estimates convince the market to lift the stock price higher still.

Following the upgrade, the latest consensus from CASI Pharmaceuticals' five analysts is for revenues of US$29m in 2021, which would reflect a sizeable 63% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 41% to US$0.27. Yet before this consensus update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$25m and losses of US$0.30 per share in 2021. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a sizeable increase to their revenue forecasts while also reducing the estimated loss as the business grows towards breakeven.

See our latest analysis for CASI Pharmaceuticals

It will come as no surprise to learn that the analysts have increased their price target for CASI Pharmaceuticals 6.0% to US$4.45 on the back of these upgrades. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. Currently, the most bullish analyst values CASI Pharmaceuticals at US$5.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$3.80. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting CASI Pharmaceuticals is an easy business to forecast or the underlying assumptions are obvious.

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. The analysts are definitely expecting CASI Pharmaceuticals' growth to accelerate, with the forecast 166% annualised growth to the end of 2021 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 41% per annum 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 10% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect CASI Pharmaceuticals to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The highlight for us was that the consensus reduced its estimated losses this year, perhaps suggesting CASI Pharmaceuticals is moving incrementally towards profitability. They also upgraded their revenue estimates for this year, and sales are expected to grow faster than the wider market. With a serious upgrade to expectations and a rising price target, it might be time to take another look at CASI Pharmaceuticals.

Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for CASI Pharmaceuticals going out to 2023, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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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.
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