This Just In: Analysts Are Boosting Their Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Outlook for This Year

Shareholders in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) 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.

After the upgrade, the four analysts covering Viasat are now predicting revenues of US$4.2b in 2024. If met, this would reflect a substantial 63% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 85% to US$0.42. Yet before this consensus update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$2.7b and losses of US$2.11 per share in 2024. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Viasat

It will come as no surprise to learn that the analysts have increased their price target for Viasat 7.1% to US$54.00 on the back of these upgrades. 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 Viasat analyst has a price target of US$81.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$34.00. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that the analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

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. The analysts are definitely expecting Viasat's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 63% annualised growth to the end of 2024 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 8.7% 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 4.6% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Viasat 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 Viasat is moving incrementally towards profitability. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. Given that the consensus looks almost universally bullish, with a substantial increase to forecasts and a higher price target, Viasat could be worth investigating further.

Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. We have estimates - from multiple Viasat analysts - going out to 2025, 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.

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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.