Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Third-Quarter Results: Here's What Analysts Are Forecasting For Next Year
It’s been a sad week for Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), who’ve watched their investment drop 17% to US$5.25 in the week since the company reported its third-quarter result. Revenues of US$24m arrived in line with expectations, although statutory losses per share were US$0.08, an impressive 26% smaller than what broker models predicted. 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. With this in mind, we’ve gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.
Check out our latest analysis for Cerus
After the latest results, the three analysts covering Cerus are now predicting revenues of US$110.2m in 2021. If met, this would reflect a substantial 30% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Losses are expected to be contained, narrowing 19% from last year to US$0.32. Before this latest report, the consensus had been expecting revenues of US$117.5m and US$0.34 per share in losses. So there seems to have been a moderate uplift in analyst sentiment with the latest consensus release, given the upgrade to loss per share forecasts for next year.
The consensus price target was broadly unchanged at US$9.10, implying that the business is performing roughly in line with expectations, despite adjustments to both revenue and earnings estimates. 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. The most optimistic Cerus analyst has a price target of US$10.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$8.00. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Cerus is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Cerus’ past performance and to peers in the same industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Cerus’ growth to accelerate, with the forecast 30% growth ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 21% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 9.5% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it’s pretty clear that Cerus is expected to grow much faster than its industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that the analysts reconfirmed their loss per share estimates for next year. Regrettably, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, but the latest forecasts still imply the business will grow faster than the wider industry. Yet – earnings are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. The consensus price target held steady at US$9.10, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.
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 Cerus analysts – going out to 2023, and you can see them free on our platform here.
Don’t forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we’ve identified 3 warning signs for Cerus that you should be aware of.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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