The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCKT) investors will be delighted, with the company turning in some strong numbers with its latest results. The company beat expectations with revenues of US$78m arriving 2.6% ahead of forecasts. Statutory earnings per share (EPS) were US$0.31, 6.9% ahead of estimates. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

After the latest results, the two analysts covering Hackett Group are now predicting revenues of US$306.5m in 2024. If met, this would reflect a modest 3.1% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be US$1.26, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$305.5m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.27 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 consensus price target rose 8.1% to US$29.00despite there being no meaningful change to earnings estimates. It could be that the analystsare reflecting the predictability of Hackett Group's earnings by assigning a price premium.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Hackett Group's past performance and to peers in the same industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Hackett Group's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 6.2% annualised growth to the end of 2024 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 4.0% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 8.9% per year. So it's clear that despite the acceleration in growth, Hackett Group is expected to grow meaningfully slower than the industry average.

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 plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Hackett Group. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At least one analyst has provided forecasts out to 2025, which can be seen for free on our platform here.

You can also view our analysis of Hackett Group's balance sheet, and whether we think Hackett Group 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.