Growth Investors: Industry Analysts Just Upgraded Their Northwest Natural Holding Company (NYSE:NWN) Revenue Forecasts By 11%

Northwest Natural Holding Company (NYSE:NWN) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making substantial upgrades to this year's statutory forecasts. The analysts have sharply increased their revenue numbers, with a view that Northwest Natural Holding will make substantially more sales than they'd previously expected.

Following this upgrade, Northwest Natural Holding's six analysts are forecasting 2023 revenues to be US$1.2b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are supposed to reduce 4.7% to US$2.68 in the same period. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$1.1b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.67 in 2023. It seems analyst sentiment has certainly become more bullish on revenues, even though they haven't changed their view on earnings per share.

Check out our latest analysis for Northwest Natural Holding

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 0.4% by the end of 2023. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 9.9% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 2.7% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Northwest Natural Holding is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with analysts reconfirming that earnings per share are expected to continue performing in line with their prior expectations. Pleasantly, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow slower than the wider market. Given that analysts appear to be expecting substantial improvement in the sales pipeline, now could be the right time to take another look at Northwest Natural Holding.

These earnings upgrades look like a sterling endorsement, but before diving in - you should know that we've spotted 3 potential risks with Northwest Natural Holding, including dilutive stock issuance over the past year. You can learn more, and discover the 2 other risks we've identified, for 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.