The yearly results for Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) were released last week, making it a good time to revisit its performance. Results were roughly in line with estimates, with revenues of US$5.4b and statutory earnings per share of US$6.95. 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 collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Clean Harbors' 13 analysts is for revenues of US$5.64b in 2024. This would reflect an okay 4.4% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to accumulate 6.8% to US$7.48. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$5.69b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$7.95 in 2024. So it looks like there's been a small decline in overall sentiment after the recent results - there's been no major change to revenue estimates, but the analysts did make a small dip in their earnings per share forecasts.

Despite cutting their earnings forecasts,the analysts have lifted their price target 5.8% to US$198, suggesting that these impacts are not expected to weigh on the stock's value in the long term. 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 Clean Harbors, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$213 and the most bearish at US$175 per share. The narrow spread of estimates could suggest that the business' future is relatively easy to value, or thatthe analysts have a strong view on its prospects.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. We would highlight that Clean Harbors' revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 4.4% annualised growth rate until the end of 2024 being well below the historical 13% 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 6.5% 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 Clean Harbors.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. 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 also a nice increase in the price target, with the analysts clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.

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 forecasts for Clean Harbors going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Plus, you should also learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Clean Harbors .

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