Results: Itron, Inc. Beat Earnings Expectations And Analysts Now Have New Forecasts

It's been a good week for Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest full-year results, and the shares gained 9.4% to US$107. Itron reported US$2.4b in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of US$5.18 beat expectations, being 6.0% higher than what the analysts expected. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Itron after the latest results.

See our latest analysis for Itron

Taking into account the latest results, Itron's eleven analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be US$2.47b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to decrease 5.0% to US$5.03 in the same period. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$2.45b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.55 in 2025. Although the revenue estimates have not really changed, we can see there's been a nice gain to earnings per share expectations, suggesting that the analysts have become more bullish after the latest result.

The consensus price target was unchanged at US$129, implying that the improved earnings outlook is not expected to have a long term impact on value creation for shareholders. 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. There are some variant perceptions on Itron, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$145 and the most bearish at US$118 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Itron is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. It's also worth noting that the years of declining revenue look to have come to an end, with the forecast stauing flat to the end of 2025. Historically, Itron's top line has shrunk approximately 0.8% annually 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 7.3% per year. So it's pretty clear that, although revenues are improving, Itron is still expected to grow slower than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards Itron following these results. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$129, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

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 Itron going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Itron that you need to be mindful of.

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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.