The analysts covering BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. (AMS:BESI) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory forecasts for this year. Revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts were both revised downwards, with the analysts seeing grey clouds on the horizon.

Following the downgrade, the most recent consensus for BE Semiconductor Industries from its 19 analysts is for revenues of €750m in 2025 which, if met, would be a major 22% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to soar 23% to €2.73. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of €838m and earnings per share (EPS) of €3.45 in 2025. Indeed, we can see that the analysts are a lot more bearish about BE Semiconductor Industries' prospects, administering a substantial drop in revenue estimates and slashing their EPS estimates to boot.

View our latest analysis for BE Semiconductor Industries

Despite the cuts to forecast earnings, there was no real change to the €143 price target, showing that the analysts don't think the changes have a meaningful impact on its intrinsic value.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. The analysts are definitely expecting BE Semiconductor Industries' growth to accelerate, with the forecast 22% annualised growth to the end of 2025 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 9.6% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 11% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect BE Semiconductor Industries to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest issue in the new estimates is that analysts have reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds lay ahead for BE Semiconductor Industries. While analysts did downgrade their revenue estimates, these forecasts still imply revenues will perform better than the wider market. The lack of change in the price target is puzzling in light of the downgrade but, with a serious decline expected this year, we wouldn't be surprised if investors were a bit wary of BE Semiconductor Industries.

Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. We have estimates - from multiple BE Semiconductor Industries analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are downgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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