One of the biggest stories of last week was how Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ:STGW) shares plunged 23% in the week since its latest yearly results, closing yesterday at US$5.34. Results were overall in line with expectations, with the company breaking even at the statutory earnings per share (EPS) level on US$2.5b in revenue. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

View our latest analysis for Stagwell

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Stagwell's six analysts is for revenues of US$2.70b in 2024. This reflects a credible 6.7% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to bounce 35,560% to US$0.39. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$2.78b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.44 in 2024. From this we can that sentiment has definitely become more bearish after the latest results, leading to lower revenue forecasts and a substantial drop in earnings per share estimates.

The consensus price target fell 7.3% to US$7.07, with the weaker earnings outlook clearly leading valuation estimates. 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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Stagwell at US$9.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$5.50. There are definitely some different views on the stock, but the range of estimates is not wide enough as to imply that the situation is unforecastable, in our view.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Stagwell's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Stagwell's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2024 expected to display 6.7% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 34% 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) 3.6% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while Stagwell's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.