Yahoo Finance Analysts Just Published A Bright New Outlook For Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:HARP)
Celebrations may be in order for Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HARP) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects.
After the upgrade, the consensus from Harpoon Therapeutics' nine analysts is for revenues of US$23m in 2023, which would reflect a painful 27% decline in sales compared to the last year of performance. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 35% to US$1.39. Yet prior to the latest estimates, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$18m and losses of US$1.95 per share in 2023. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a sizeable increase to their revenue forecasts while also reducing the estimated loss as the business grows towards breakeven.
See our latest analysis for Harpoon Therapeutics
The consensus price target fell 16%, to US$7.39, suggesting that the analysts remain pessimistic on the company, despite the improved earnings and revenue outlook. 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. There are some variant perceptions on Harpoon Therapeutics, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$16.00 and the most bearish at US$1.50 per share. As you can see the range of estimates is wide, with the lowest valuation coming in at less than half the most bullish estimate, suggesting there are some strongly diverging views on how think this business will perform. As a result it might not be possible to derive much meaning from the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.
These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Harpoon Therapeutics' past performance and to peers in the same industry. We would highlight that sales are expected to reverse, with a forecast 22% annualised revenue decline to the end of 2023. That is a notable change from historical growth of 48% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 14% per year. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Harpoon Therapeutics is expected to lag the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing here is that analysts reduced their loss per share estimates for next year, reflecting increased optimism around Harpoon Therapeutics' prospects. Pleasantly, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow slower than the wider market. The declining price target is a puzzle, but still - with a serious upgrade to next year's expectations, it might be time to take another look at Harpoon Therapeutics.
Analysts are clearly in love with Harpoon Therapeutics at the moment, but before diving in - you should be aware that we've identified some warning flags with the business, such as a short cash runway. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about this and the 3 other flags we've identified .
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.
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