Materialise NV (NASDAQ:MTLS) Released Earnings Last Week And Analysts Lifted Their Price Target To US$8.92

It's been a good week for Materialise NV (NASDAQ:MTLS) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest quarterly results, and the shares gained 6.2% to US$7.02. It was a workmanlike result, with revenues of €70m coming in 2.3% ahead of expectations, and statutory earnings per share of €0.13, in line with analyst appraisals. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

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Taking into account the latest results, Materialise's three analysts currently expect revenues in 2026 to be €276.1m, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to drop 11% to €0.20 in the same period. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €274.7m and earnings per share (EPS) of €0.20 in 2026. The analysts seem to have become a little more negative on the business after the latest results, given the minor downgrade to their earnings per share numbers for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Materialise

Althoughthe analysts have revised their earnings forecasts for next year, they've also lifted the consensus price target 8.7% to US$8.92, suggesting the revised estimates are not indicative of a weaker long-term future for the business. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. The most optimistic Materialise analyst has a price target of US$9.95 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$8.06. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that Materialise is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

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. We would highlight that Materialise's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 2.4% annualised growth rate until the end of 2026 being well below the historical 6.6% p.a. growth over the last five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 16% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than Materialise.

The Bottom Line

The biggest concern is that the analysts reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds could lay ahead for Materialise. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Materialise. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for Materialise going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, 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.