Last week, you might have seen that Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) released its third-quarter result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 7.4% to US$190 in the past week. The result was positive overall - although revenues of US$2.6b were in line with what the analysts predicted, Cintas surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$1.13 per share, modestly greater than expected. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

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Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Cintas from 16 analysts is for revenues of US$11.0b in 2026. If met, it would imply a notable 8.8% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to rise 10.0% to US$4.83. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$11.0b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.82 in 2026. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for Cintas

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$207, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on Cintas, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$245 and the most bearish at US$163 per share. This shows there is still a bit of diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Cintas' past performance and to peers in the same industry. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of Cintas'historical trends, as the 7.0% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2026 is roughly in line with the 8.4% annual growth over the past five years. Juxtapose this against our data, which suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenues grow 6.7% per year. It's clear that while Cintas' revenue growth is expected to continue on its current trajectory, it's only expected to grow in line with the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. They also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, with the company predicted to grow at about the same rate as 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.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have estimates - from multiple Cintas analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Cintas that you should be aware of.

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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.