It's been a good week for Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest quarterly results, and the shares gained 4.5% to US$194. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$773m were in line with what the analysts predicted, Woodward surprised by delivering a statutory profit of US$1.42 per share, a notable 17% above expectations. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

View our latest analysis for Woodward

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Woodward from eleven analysts is for revenues of US$3.40b in 2025. If met, it would imply a credible 2.8% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be US$6.15, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.41b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.06 in 2025. 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.

There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$206, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. The most optimistic Woodward analyst has a price target of US$232 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$167. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await Woodward shareholders.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Woodward's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 3.8% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 5.5% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 6.9% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than Woodward.

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. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that Woodward's revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$206, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Woodward analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

It might also be worth considering whether Woodward's debt load is appropriate, using our debt analysis tools on the Simply Wall St platform, here.

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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.