Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) investors will be delighted, with the company turning in some strong numbers with its latest results. Woodward beat earnings, with revenues hitting US$835m, ahead of expectations, and statutory earnings per share outperforming analyst reckonings by a solid 17%. 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 thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Woodward from nine analysts is for revenues of US$3.31b in 2024. If met, it would imply a satisfactory 3.5% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be US$5.93, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$3.25b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$5.38 in 2024. There's been a pretty noticeable increase in sentiment, with the analysts upgrading revenues and making a nice increase in earnings per share in particular.

With these upgrades, we're not surprised to see that the analysts have lifted their price target 8.6% to US$182per share. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Woodward at US$214 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$152. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's clear from the latest estimates that Woodward's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 7.1% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 0.4% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 2.3% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Woodward is expected to grow much faster than its 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 Woodward following these results. Happily, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting them to grow faster than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Woodward. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Woodward going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

You can also see whether Woodward is carrying too much debt, and whether its balance sheet is healthy, for free on our platform here.

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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.