Last week, you might have seen that Otter Tail Corporation (NASDAQ:OTTR) released its first-quarter result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 5.0% to US$76.96 in the past week. Results look mixed - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$337m, statutory earnings beat expectations 5.9%, with Otter Tail reporting profits of US$1.62 per share. 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. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.
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Taking into account the latest results, Otter Tail's twin analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be US$1.33b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to sink 12% to US$6.17 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$1.34b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.15 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.
Check out our latest analysis for Otter Tail
There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$83.00, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Otter Tail's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Otter Tail's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 0.7% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 9.1% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 4.8% 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 Otter Tail.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. 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.
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. We have analyst estimates for Otter Tail going out as far as 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.
Plus, you should also learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Otter Tail (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .
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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.