Need To Know: Analysts Are Much More Bullish On Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) Revenues

Shareholders in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. The consensus estimated revenue numbers rose, with their view now clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects.

Following the latest upgrade, Spire's eight analysts currently expect revenues in 2024 to be US$2.6b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to swell 18% to US$4.35. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$2.5b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.34 in 2024. There doesn't appear to have been a major change in analyst sentiment following this consensus update, other than the modest lift to revenue estimates.

See our latest analysis for Spire

Even though revenue forecasts increased, there was no change to the consensus price target of US$62.88, suggesting the analysts are focused on earnings as the driver of value creation.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that Spire's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 1.4% annualised growth rate until the end of 2024 being well below the historical 7.4% 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 5.2% 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 Spire.

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. Seeing the dramatic upgrade to this year's forecasts, it might be time to take another look at Spire.

Better yet, our automated discounted cash flow calculation (DCF) suggests Spire could be moderately undervalued. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about our valuation approach.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks 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.