Three Squirrels Inc. (SZSE:300783) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making substantial upgrades to this year's statutory forecasts. Consensus estimates suggest investors could expect greatly increased statutory revenues and earnings per share, with the analysts modelling a real improvement in business performance. Three Squirrels has also found favour with investors, with the stock up a worthy 14% to CN¥23.27 over the past week. We'll be curious to see if these new estimates convince the market to lift the stock price higher still.

Following the upgrade, the current consensus from Three Squirrels' seven analysts is for revenues of CN¥10.0b in 2024 which - if met - would reflect a sizeable 40% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to surge 55% to CN¥0.85. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN¥8.7b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥0.73 in 2024. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analysts substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.

It will come as no surprise to learn that the analysts have increased their price target for Three Squirrels 12% to CN¥25.13 on the back of these upgrades.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Three Squirrels' past performance and to peers in the same industry. For example, we noticed that Three Squirrels' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 40% growth to the end of 2024 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 5.5% a year over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 13% per year. So it looks like Three Squirrels is expected to grow faster than its competitors, at least for a while.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. They also upgraded their revenue estimates for this year, and sales are expected to grow faster than the wider market. Given that the consensus looks almost universally bullish, with a substantial increase to forecasts and a higher price target, Three Squirrels could be worth investigating further.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Three Squirrels 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.