It's been a good week for News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest quarterly results, and the shares gained 6.6% to US$29.23. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$2.6b were what the analysts expected, News surprised by delivering a (statutory) profit of US$0.21 per share, an impressive 25% above what was forecast. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for News

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for News from 13 analysts is for revenues of US$10.4b in 2025. If met, it would imply a modest 2.8% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to jump 36% to US$0.85. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$10.4b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.80 in 2025. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on News' earnings potential following these results.

The consensus price target rose 7.9% to US$35.19, suggesting that higher earnings estimates flow through to the stock's valuation as well. 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 News, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$41.00 and the most bearish at US$28.03 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the News' past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's clear from the latest estimates that News' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 3.7% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 2.0% p.a. over the past five years. Other similar companies in the industry (with analyst coverage) are also forecast to grow their revenue at 3.7% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that News is expected to grow at about the same rate as the wider 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 News following these results. Happily, there were no real changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow in line with the overall 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 in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on News. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for News going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It might also be worth considering whether News' 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.