Analyst Estimates: Here's What Brokers Think Of Hays plc (LON:HAS) After Its Full-Year Report
Shareholders might have noticed that Hays plc (LON:HAS) filed its yearly result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 5.5% to UK£1.16 in the past week. The result was positive overall - although revenues of UK£6.6b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Hays surprised by delivering a statutory profit of UK£0.091 per share, modestly greater than expected. 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. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Hays after the latest results.
See our latest analysis for Hays
Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Hays' eleven analysts is for revenues of UK£6.78b in 2023, which would reflect a reasonable 2.9% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be UK£0.096, approximately in line with the last 12 months. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of UK£6.97b and earnings per share (EPS) of UK£0.096 in 2023. The consensus seems maybe a little more pessimistic, trimming their revenue forecasts after the latest results even though there was no change to its EPS estimates.
The average price target was steady at UK£1.62even though revenue estimates declined; likely suggesting the analysts place a higher value on earnings. 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 Hays at UK£2.20 per share, while the most bearish prices it at UK£1.15. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.
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. The analysts are definitely expecting Hays' growth to accelerate, with the forecast 2.9% annualised growth to the end of 2023 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 2.3% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 6.7% per year. So it's clear that despite the acceleration in growth, Hays is expected to grow meaningfully slower than the industry average.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Unfortunately, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates revenues are expected to perform worse than the wider industry. Even so, earnings per share are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. Even so, long term profitability is more important for the value creation process. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.
Following on from that line of thought, we think that 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 Hays going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here..
Before you take the next step you should know about the 1 warning sign for Hays that we have uncovered.
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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.
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