A week ago, Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (SHSE:601231) came out with a strong set of quarterly numbers that could potentially lead to a re-rate of the stock. The company beat forecasts, with revenue of CN¥14b, some 2.2% above estimates, and statutory earnings per share (EPS) coming in at CN¥0.21, 28% ahead of expectations. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) after the latest results.

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) from seven analysts is for revenues of CN¥64.3b in 2024. If met, it would imply a satisfactory 4.8% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to climb 13% to CN¥1.01. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN¥65.6b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥1.00 in 2024. So it looks like the analysts have become a bit less optimistic after the latest results announcement, with revenues expected to fall even as the company is supposed to maintain EPS.

The consensus has reconfirmed its price target of CN¥18.35, showing that the analysts don't expect weaker revenue expectations next year to have a material impact on Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai)'s market value. 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 Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai), with the most bullish analyst valuing it at CN¥20.00 and the most bearish at CN¥17.00 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. We would highlight that Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai)'s revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 9.9% annualised growth rate until the end of 2024 being well below the historical 12% 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 17% 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 Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai).

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. On the negative side, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. Still, earnings per share are more important to value creation for shareholders. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Before you take the next step you should know about the 1 warning sign for Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) that we have uncovered.

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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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