Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (SHSE:601318) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making substantial upgrades to this year's forecasts. The consensus estimated revenue numbers rose, with their view now clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects.

Following the upgrade, the most recent consensus for Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China from its 16 analysts is for revenues of CN¥1.1t in 2024 which, if met, would be a substantial 22% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to shoot up 52% to CN¥7.18. Previously, the analysts had been modelling revenues of CN¥850b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥7.24 in 2024. It seems analyst sentiment has certainly become more bullish on revenues, even though they haven't changed their view on earnings per share.

It may not be a surprise to see that the analysts have reconfirmed their price target of CN¥59.10, implying that the uplift in sales is not expected to greatly contribute to Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China's valuation in the near term.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. One thing stands out from these estimates, which is that Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China is forecast to grow faster in the future than it has in the past, with revenues expected to display 22% annualised growth until the end of 2024. If achieved, this would be a much better result than the 1.4% annual decline over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to grow 0.3% annually. So it looks like Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China is expected to grow faster than its competitors, at least for a while.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion from this consensus update is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with analysts holding earnings per share steady, in line with previous estimates. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. Given that analysts appear to be expecting substantial improvement in the sales pipeline, now could be the right time to take another look at Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China.

Still, 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 Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are upgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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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.