iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT) is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business, so we would like to shine some light on the company. iHeartMedia, Inc. operates as an audio media company in the United States and internationally. The US$311m market-cap company posted a loss in its most recent financial year of US$1.1b and a latest trailing-twelve-month loss of US$1.0b shrinking the gap between loss and breakeven. As path to profitability is the topic on iHeartMedia's investors mind, we've decided to gauge market sentiment. Below we will provide a high-level summary of the industry analysts’ expectations for the company.

Check out our latest analysis for iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia is bordering on breakeven, according to the 5 American Media analysts. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2025, before generating positive profits of US$79m in 2026. Therefore, the company is expected to breakeven roughly 2 years from today. What rate will the company have to grow year-on-year in order to breakeven on this date? Using a line of best fit, we calculated an average annual growth rate of 95%, which signals high confidence from analysts. If this rate turns out to be too aggressive, the company may become profitable much later than analysts predict.

Given this is a high-level overview, we won’t go into details of iHeartMedia's upcoming projects, but, keep in mind that typically a high forecast growth rate is not unusual for a company that is currently undergoing an investment period.

One thing we would like to bring into light with iHeartMedia is it currently has negative equity on its balance sheet. This can sometimes arise from accounting methods used to deal with accumulated losses from prior years, which are viewed as liabilities carried forward until it cancels out in the future. Oftentimes, losses exist only on paper but other times, it can be a red flag.

Next Steps:

There are too many aspects of iHeartMedia to cover in one brief article, but the key fundamentals for the company can all be found in one place – iHeartMedia's company page on Simply Wall St. We've also put together a list of pertinent factors you should further research:

1. Valuation: What is iHeartMedia worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether iHeartMedia is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on iHeartMedia’s board and the CEO’s background.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks 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.