Analysts Just Made A Substantial Upgrade To Their Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:EGLE) Forecasts

Shareholders in Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:EGLE) 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.

Following the latest upgrade, the seven analysts covering Eagle Bulk Shipping provided consensus estimates of US$470m revenue in 2022, which would reflect a disturbing 21% decline on its sales over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to climb 16% to US$16.54. Previously, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$409m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$12.85 in 2022. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analysts substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for Eagle Bulk Shipping

Despite these upgrades, the analysts have not made any major changes to their price target of US$68.88, suggesting that the higher estimates are not likely to have a long term impact on what the stock is worth. 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. There are some variant perceptions on Eagle Bulk Shipping, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$84.00 and the most bearish at US$50.00 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.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Eagle Bulk Shipping's past performance and to peers in the same industry. We would highlight that sales are expected to reverse, with a forecast 21% annualised revenue decline to the end of 2022. That is a notable change from historical growth of 18% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue decline 1.7% annually for the foreseeable future. The forecasts do look bearish for Eagle Bulk Shipping, since they're expecting it to shrink faster than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away from this upgrade is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates for this year, expecting improving business conditions. Notably, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, with sales performing well although Eagle Bulk Shipping's revenue growth is expected to trail that of 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 Eagle Bulk Shipping.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Eagle Bulk Shipping analysts - going out to 2023, 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.