Shareholders of BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BTSG) will be pleased this week, given that the stock price is up 11% to US$17.63 following its latest third-quarter results. Revenues of US$2.9b beat expectations by 6.9%. Unfortunately statutory earnings per share (EPS) fell well short of the mark, turning in a loss of US$0.04 compared to previous analyst expectations of a profit. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. 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 BrightSpring Health Services

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from BrightSpring Health Services' twelve analysts is for revenues of US$12.3b in 2025. This would reflect a decent 16% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Earnings are expected to improve, with BrightSpring Health Services forecast to report a statutory profit of US$0.63 per share. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$11.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.68 in 2025. Overall it looks as though the analysts were a bit mixed on the latest results. Although there was a a decent to revenue, the consensus also made a minor downgrade to its earnings per share forecasts.

Curiously, the consensus price target rose 18% to US$20.27. We can only conclude that the forecast revenue growth is expected to offset the impact of the expected fall in 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 BrightSpring Health Services at US$23.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$17.00. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggeststhe analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. The period to the end of 2025 brings more of the same, according to the analysts, with revenue forecast to display 13% growth on an annualised basis. That is in line with its 16% annual growth 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 revenues grow 6.7% per year. So it's pretty clear that BrightSpring Health Services is forecast to grow substantially faster than its industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Happily, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting them to grow faster than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have forecasts for BrightSpring Health Services going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You can also see whether BrightSpring Health Services is carrying too much debt, and whether its balance sheet is healthy, for free on our platform here.

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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.