Shareholders might have noticed that Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) filed its second-quarter result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 5.9% to US$280 in the past week. The result was positive overall - although revenues of US$6.4b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Eaton surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$2.48 per share, modestly greater than expected. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Eaton after the latest results.

After the latest results, the 22 analysts covering Eaton are now predicting revenues of US$25.1b in 2024. If met, this would reflect an okay 4.0% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to increase 2.2% to US$9.37. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$25.1b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$9.35 in 2024. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$333, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. 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 Eaton, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$385 and the most bearish at US$229 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's clear from the latest estimates that Eaton's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 8.1% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 3.1% p.a. over the past five years. Other similar companies in the industry (with analyst coverage) are also forecast to grow their revenue at 7.9% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Eaton 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. Happily, there were no real changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow in line with the overall industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$333, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have estimates - from multiple Eaton analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You can also view our analysis of Eaton's balance sheet, and whether we think Eaton is carrying too much debt, for free 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.

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