Shareholders will be ecstatic, with their stake up 27% over the past week following CPI Card Group Inc.'s (NASDAQ:PMTS) latest third-quarter results. Results overall were not great, with earnings of US$0.11 per share falling drastically short of analyst expectations. Meanwhile revenues hit US$125m and were slightly better than forecasts. 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. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from CPI Card Group's three analysts is for revenues of US$512.4m in 2025. This reflects a meaningful 12% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to leap 92% to US$2.66. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$492.6m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.72 in 2025. So it's pretty clear consensus is mixed on CPI Card Group after the latest results; whilethe analysts lifted revenue numbers, they also administered a small dip in per-share earnings expectations.

There's been no major changes to the price target of US$35.33, suggesting that the impact of higher forecast revenue and lower earnings won't result in a meaningful change to the business' valuation. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic CPI Card Group analyst has a price target of US$40.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$33.00. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggeststhe analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that CPI Card Group's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 9.3% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 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 6.9% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while CPI Card Group's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The biggest concern is that the analysts reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds could lay ahead for CPI Card Group. Happily, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting them to grow faster 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. We have estimates - from multiple CPI Card Group analysts - going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Even so, be aware that CPI Card Group is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

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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.