One thing we could say about the analysts on Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) - they aren't optimistic, having just made a major negative revision to their near-term (statutory) forecasts for the organization. This report focused on revenue estimates, and it looks as though the consensus view of the business has become substantially more conservative.

Following the latest downgrade, the seven analysts covering Frontline provided consensus estimates of US$1.2b revenue in 2025, which would reflect a sizeable 43% decline on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to be US$2.26, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$1.6b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.29 in 2025. So there's been a clear change in analyst sentiment in the recent update, with the analysts making a pretty serious reduction to revenues and reconfirming their earnings per share estimates.

See our latest analysis for Frontline

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. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 43% by the end of 2025. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 17% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 4.0% per year. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Frontline is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with analysts reconfirming that earnings per share are expected to continue performing in line with their prior expectations. Regrettably, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and the latest forecasts imply the business will grow sales slower than the wider market. Overall, given the drastic downgrade to this year's forecasts, we'd be feeling a little more wary of Frontline going forwards.

So things certainly aren't looking great, and you should also know that we've spotted some potential warning signs with Frontline, including its declining profit margins. For more information, you can click here to discover this and the 2 other flags we've identified.

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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