Yahoo Finance Here's What Analysts Are Forecasting For FireEye, Inc. After Its Annual Results
FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:FEYE) last week reported its latest annual results, which makes it a good time for investors to dive in and see if the business is performing in line with expectations. Revenues came in at US$889m, in line with forecasts and the company reported a statutory loss of US$1.24 per share, roughly in line with expectations. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what top analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.
See our latest analysis for FireEye
Taking into account the latest results, the latest consensus from FireEye's 22 analysts is for revenues of US$941.3m in 2020, which would reflect a satisfactory 5.9% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory losses are forecast to balloon 33% to US$0.84 per share. Before this latest report, the consensus had been expecting revenues of US$950.4m and US$0.93 per share in losses. There was no real change to the revenue estimates, but analysts do seem more bullish on earnings, given the small increase to earnings per share expectations following these results.
The average analyst price target held steady at US$18.55, seeming to indicate that business is performing in line with expectations. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on FireEye, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$23.00 and the most bearish at US$15.00 per share. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable.
Zooming out to look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up both against past performance, and against industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that analysts expect FireEye's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 5.9%, compared to a historical growth rate of 11% over the past five years. Compare this against other companies (with analyst forecasts) in the market, which are in aggregate expected to see revenue growth of 12% next year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that analysts still expect FireEye to grow slower than the wider market.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to note from these estimates is that the consensus increased its forecast losses next year, suggesting all may not be well at FireEye. Fortunately, analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting sales are tracking in line with expectations - although our data does suggest that FireEye's revenues are expected to perform worse than the wider market. The consensus price target held steady at US$18.55, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on analysts' estimated valuations.
Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for FireEye going out to 2022, 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.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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