Shareholders will be ecstatic, with their stake up 23% over the past week following L.B. Foster Company's (NASDAQ:FSTR) latest first-quarter results. It was a solid earnings report, with revenues and earnings both coming in very strong. Revenues were 13% higher than the analyst had forecast, at US$124m, while the company also delivered a surprise statutory profit, against analyst expectations of a loss. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what expert is forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimate to see what could be in store for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for L.B. Foster

After the latest results, the consensus from L.B. Foster's single analyst is for revenues of US$540.1m in 2024, which would reflect a perceptible 2.3% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. Per-share earnings are expected to surge 134% to US$1.72. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analyst had been anticipated revenues of US$538.9m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.07 in 2024. Although the revenue estimates have not really changed, we can see there's been a great increase in earnings per share expectations, suggesting that the analyst has become more bullish after the latest result.

The analyst has been lifting their price targets on the back of the earnings upgrade, with the consensus price target rising 8.7% to US$25.00.

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. We would also point out that the forecast 3.0% annualised revenue decline to the end of 2024 is better than the historical trend, which saw revenues shrink 4.2% annually over the past five years By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 3.6% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while it does have declining revenues, the analyst also expect L.B. Foster to suffer worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analyst upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards L.B. Foster following these results. Fortunately, the analyst also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that L.B. Foster's revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with the analyst clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have analyst estimates for L.B. Foster going out as far as 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for L.B. Foster (1 shouldn't be ignored) you should be aware of.

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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.