It's been a good week for Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest second-quarter results, and the shares gained 10.0% to US$58.16. Results were roughly in line with estimates, with revenues of US$150m and statutory earnings per share of US$1.15. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

After the latest results, the five analysts covering Banner are now predicting revenues of US$613.0m in 2024. If met, this would reflect a satisfactory 3.2% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to decrease 5.5% to US$4.55 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$611.1m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.58 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

The consensus price target rose 14% to US$58.50despite there being no meaningful change to earnings estimates. It could be that the analystsare reflecting the predictability of Banner's earnings by assigning a price premium. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on Banner, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$65.00 and the most bearish at US$47.00 per share. There are definitely some different views on the stock, but the range of estimates is not wide enough as to imply that the situation is unforecastable, in our view.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Banner's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that Banner's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 6.6% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 3.9% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 5.7% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Banner is expected to grow at about the same rate as the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. They also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, with the company predicted to grow at about the same rate as the wider industry. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with the analysts clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Banner. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Banner going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here..

And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Banner you should know about.

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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.

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