Viant Technology Inc. Just Missed EPS By 16%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next

There's been a major selloff in Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:DSP) shares in the week since it released its full-year report, with the stock down 31% to US$14.12. Statutory earnings per share of US$0.14 unfortunately missed expectations by 16%, although it was encouraging to see revenues of US$289m exceed expectations by 2.1%. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Viant Technology

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Viant Technology's six analysts is for revenues of US$334.7m in 2025. This reflects a solid 16% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to ascend 13% to US$0.16. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$321.1m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.30 in 2025. So it's pretty clear the analysts have mixed opinions on Viant Technology after the latest results; even though they upped their revenue numbers, it came at the cost of a pretty serious reduction to per-share earnings expectations.

There's been no major changes to the price target of US$24.14, suggesting that the impact of higher forecast revenue and lower earnings won't result in a meaningful change to the business' 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 Viant Technology analyst has a price target of US$27.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$21.00. With such a narrow range of valuations, the analysts apparently share similar views on what they think the business is worth.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's clear from the latest estimates that Viant Technology's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 16% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 9.5% p.a. 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 12% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Viant Technology to grow faster 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. Happily, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting them to grow faster 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 forecasts for Viant Technology going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Viant Technology that you need to take into consideration.

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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.