Last week saw the newest quarterly earnings release from Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW), an important milestone in the company's journey to build a stronger business. The result was positive overall - although revenues of US$24b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Lowe's Companies surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$4.17 per share, modestly greater than expected. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Lowe's Companies after the latest results.

Following last week's earnings report, Lowe's Companies' 34 analysts are forecasting 2025 revenues to be US$83.2b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to shrink 2.1% to US$11.91 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$84.3b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$12.16 in 2025. 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.

The consensus price target held steady at US$253, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic Lowe's Companies analyst has a price target of US$290 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$203. This shows there is still a bit of diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.

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. These estimates imply that revenue is expected to slow, with a forecast annualised decline of 1.9% by the end of 2025. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 3.8% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 4.8% annually for the foreseeable future. It's pretty clear that Lowe's Companies' revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

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 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.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have forecasts for Lowe's Companies going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You still need to take note of risks, for example - Lowe's Companies has 2 warning signs (and 1 which is potentially serious) we think you should know about.

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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.