It's been a good week for The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest second-quarter results, and the shares gained 5.3% to US$3.16. It was a pretty bad result overall; while revenues were in line with expectations at US$540m, statutory losses exploded to US$0.59 per share. 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. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.
Following the recent earnings report, the consensus from five analysts covering E.W. Scripps is for revenues of US$2.16b in 2025. This implies a chunky 12% decline in revenue compared to the last 12 months. The company is forecast to report a statutory loss of US$1.04 in 2025, a sharp decline from a profit over the last year. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$2.16b and losses of US$0.84 per share in 2025. So it's pretty clear the analysts have mixed opinions on E.W. Scripps even after this update; although they reconfirmed their revenue numbers, it came at the cost of a very substantial increase in per-share losses.
View our latest analysis for E.W. Scripps
The consensus price target held steady at US$5.63, seemingly implying that the higher forecast losses are not expected to 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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values E.W. Scripps at US$10.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$1.50. So we wouldn't be assigning too much credibility to analyst price targets in this case, because there are clearly some widely different views on what kind of performance this business can generate. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business.
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 22% by the end of 2025. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 6.0% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 3.0% per year. It's pretty clear that E.W. Scripps' 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 increased their loss per share estimates for next year. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$5.63, 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. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for E.W. Scripps going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..
You still need to take note of risks, for example - E.W. Scripps has 3 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit unpleasant) 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.