It's been a sad week for Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE:FSS), who've watched their investment drop 13% to US$81.28 in the week since the company reported its annual result. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of US$1.9b and statutory earnings per share of US$3.50 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that Federal Signal is executing in line with expectations. 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. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

See our latest analysis for Federal Signal

Following the latest results, Federal Signal's seven analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$2.04b in 2025. This would be a meaningful 9.9% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to accumulate 4.8% to US$3.71. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$2.00b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$3.74 in 2025. There doesn't appear to have been a major change in sentiment following the results, other than the small lift in revenue estimates.

Even though revenue forecasts increased, there was no change to the consensus price target of US$104, suggesting the analysts are focused on earnings as the driver of value creation. 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 Federal Signal, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$115 and the most bearish at US$90.00 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Federal Signal is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of Federal Signal'shistorical trends, as the 9.9% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 is roughly in line with the 11% annual growth over the past five years. Compare this with the broader industry, which analyst estimates (in aggregate) suggest will see revenues grow 3.5% annually. So although Federal Signal is expected to maintain its revenue growth rate, it's definitely expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Pleasantly, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and their forecasts suggest the business is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

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

It might also be worth considering whether Federal Signal's debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St 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.