It's been a good week for O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest annual results, and the shares gained 2.6% to US$1,085. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of US$16b and statutory earnings per share of US$38.47 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that O'Reilly Automotive is executing in line with expectations. 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. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for O'Reilly Automotive

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from O'Reilly Automotive's 25 analysts is for revenues of US$17.0b in 2024. This would reflect a reasonable 7.2% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to rise 6.6% to US$42.39. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$17.0b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$42.40 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

It will come as no surprise then, to learn that the consensus price target is largely unchanged at US$1,107. 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. The most optimistic O'Reilly Automotive analyst has a price target of US$1,250 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$780. 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.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that O'Reilly Automotive's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2024 expected to display 7.2% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 11% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 5.2% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while O'Reilly Automotive's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.