The quarterly results for General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) were released last week, making it a good time to revisit its performance. Revenues of US$4.8b were in line with forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) came in below expectations at US$1.03, missing estimates by 2.7%. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

Taking into account the latest results, General Mills' 17 analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be US$20.0b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to rise 3.6% to US$4.49. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$19.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.49 in 2025. 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 6.4% to US$74.48despite there being no meaningful change to earnings estimates. It could be that the analystsare reflecting the predictability of General Mills' earnings by assigning a price premium. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. Currently, the most bullish analyst values General Mills at US$84.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$63.00. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting General Mills is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

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. We would highlight that General Mills' revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 1.3% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 3.8% 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 2.9% 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 General Mills.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous 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.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for General Mills going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for General Mills that you need to take into consideration.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.