One thing we could say about the analysts on Invacare Corporation (NYSE:IVC) - they aren't optimistic, having just made a major negative revision to their near-term (statutory) forecasts for the organization. Revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts were both revised downwards, with the analysts seeing grey clouds on the horizon.

Following the latest downgrade, the two analysts covering Invacare provided consensus estimates of US$735m revenue in 2023, which would reflect a small 6.6% decline on its sales over the past 12 months. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 36% to US$1.34. Yet prior to the latest estimates, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$826m and losses of US$0.87 per share in 2023. So there's been quite a change-up of views after the recent consensus updates, with the analysts making a serious cut to their revenue forecasts while also expecting losses per share to increase.

Check out our latest analysis for Invacare

The consensus price target fell 49% to US$1.65, with the analysts clearly concerned about the company following the weaker revenue and earnings outlook. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Invacare at US$2.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$1.30. This shows there is still some 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.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. Over the past five years, revenues have declined around 3.8% annually. Worse, forecasts are essentially predicting the decline to accelerate, with the estimate for an annualised 5.3% decline in revenue until the end of 2023. Compare this against analyst estimates for companies in the broader industry, which suggest that revenues (in aggregate) are expected to grow 7.4% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while it does have declining revenues, the analysts also expect Invacare to suffer worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that analysts increased their loss per share estimates for next year. Regrettably, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and the latest forecasts imply the business will grow sales slower than the wider market. After such a stark change in sentiment from analysts, we'd understand if readers now felt a bit wary of Invacare.