Yahoo Finance Results: Autohome Inc. Exceeded Expectations And The Consensus Has Updated Its Estimates
Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) investors will be delighted, with the company turning in some strong numbers with its latest results. It was overall a positive result, with revenues beating expectations by 5.5% to hit CN¥2.4b. Autohome reported statutory earnings per share (EPS) CN¥7.29, which was a notable 18% above what the analysts had forecast. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.
View our latest analysis for Autohome
Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Autohome's 15 analysts is for revenues of CN¥9.61b in 2021, which would reflect a meaningful 13% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to step up 12% to CN¥31.74. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of CN¥9.37b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥30.80 in 2021. It looks like there's been a modest increase in sentiment following the latest results, withthe analysts becoming a bit more optimistic in their predictions for both revenues and earnings.
Despite these upgrades,the analysts have not made any major changes to their price target of US$105, suggesting that the higher estimates are not likely to have a long term impact on what the stock is worth. 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. The most optimistic Autohome analyst has a price target of US$126 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$80.00. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await Autohome shareholders.
Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of Autohome'shistorical trends, as next year's 13% revenue growth is roughly in line with 16% annual revenue growth over the past five years. Compare this with the wider industry (in aggregate), which analyst estimates suggest will see revenues grow 16% next year. So it's pretty clear that Autohome is expected to grow slower than similar companies in the same 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 Autohome following these results. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, although our data indicates sales are expected to perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at CN¥105, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.
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. We have estimates - from multiple Autohome analysts - going out to 2023, and you can see them free on our platform here.
Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, here.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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