A week ago, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE:ZIM) came out with a strong set of third-quarter numbers that could potentially lead to a re-rate of the stock. It was a solid earnings report, with revenues and statutory earnings per share (EPS) both coming in strong. Revenues were 15% higher than the analysts had forecast, at US$2.8b, while EPS were US$9.34 beating analyst models by 33%. 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 thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

After the latest results, the consensus from ZIM Integrated Shipping Services' six analysts is for revenues of US$6.34b in 2025, which would reflect a considerable 15% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. Statutory earnings per share are expected to plunge 84% to US$1.95 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$6.10b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.36 in 2025. There's been a pretty noticeable increase in sentiment, with the analysts upgrading revenues and making a massive increase in earnings per share in particular.

Althoughthe analysts have upgraded their earnings estimates, there was no change to the consensus price target of US$17.76, suggesting that the forecast performance does not have a long term impact on the company's 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. There are some variant perceptions on ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$28.00 and the most bearish at US$10.50 per share. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 12% annualised decline to the end of 2025. That is a notable change from historical growth of 13% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue decline 1.0% annually for the foreseeable future. The forecasts do look bearish for ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, since they're expecting it to shrink faster than the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards ZIM Integrated Shipping Services following these results. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, although ZIM Integrated Shipping Services'they are still expected to trail the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$17.76, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

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 ZIM Integrated Shipping Services going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Before you take the next step you should know about the 3 warning signs for ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (1 is significant!) that we have uncovered.

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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.