Shareholders of Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR) will be pleased this week, given that the stock price is up 17% to US$95.85 following its latest second-quarter results. Revenues were in line with expectations, at US$735m, while statutory losses ballooned to US$4.29 per share. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

After the latest results, the eight analysts covering Nabors Industries are now predicting revenues of US$3.01b in 2024. If met, this would reflect a modest 2.8% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. The loss per share is expected to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 41% to US$10.42. Before this earnings announcement, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$3.02b and losses of US$7.75 per share in 2024. While this year's revenue estimates held steady, there was also a sizeable expansion in loss per share expectations, suggesting the consensus has a bit of a mixed view on the stock.

The consensus price target held steady at US$101, seemingly implying that the higher forecast losses are not expected to have a long term impact on the company's valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on Nabors Industries, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$140 and the most bearish at US$79.00 per share. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's clear from the latest estimates that Nabors Industries' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 5.7% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 1.1% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to see revenue growth of 7.3% annually. It seems obvious that, while the future growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, Nabors Industries is expected to grow slower than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to note is the forecast of increased losses next year, suggesting all may not be well at Nabors Industries. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. 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.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Nabors Industries going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

It might also be worth considering whether Nabors Industries' debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St 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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