News Flash: Analysts Just Made A Captivating Upgrade To Their iTeos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITOS) Forecasts

Celebrations may be in order for iTeos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITOS) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The analysts greatly increased their revenue estimates, suggesting a stark improvement in business fundamentals.

Following the latest upgrade, the five analysts covering iTeos Therapeutics provided consensus estimates of US$303m revenue in 2022, which would reflect a chunky 12% decline on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are supposed to crater 40% to US$3.64 in the same period. Previously, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$233m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.55 in 2022. So we can see there's been a pretty clear increase in analyst sentiment in recent times, with both revenues and earnings per share receiving a decent lift in the latest estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for iTeos Therapeutics

Despite these upgrades, the analysts have not made any major changes to their price target of US$51.40, suggesting that the higher estimates are not likely to have a long term impact on what the stock is worth. 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 iTeos Therapeutics, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$60.00 and the most bearish at US$42.00 per share. This shows there is still some diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.

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. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 12% by the end of 2022. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 156% over the last three years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 12% per year. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - iTeos Therapeutics is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. Pleasantly, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow slower than the wider market. The lack of change in the price target is puzzling, but with a serious upgrade to this year's earnings expectations, it might be time to take another look at iTeos Therapeutics.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple iTeos Therapeutics analysts - going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.