Shareholders of JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) will be pleased this week, given that the stock price is up 10% to US$135 following its latest yearly results. It looks like a pretty bad result, all things considered. Although revenues of US$1.7b were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings fell badly short, missing estimates by 29% to hit US$2.65 per share. 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.

See our latest analysis for JBT Marel

After the latest results, the four analysts covering JBT Marel are now predicting revenues of US$3.60b in 2025. If met, this would reflect a huge 110% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. The company is forecast to report a statutory loss of US$1.05 in 2025, a sharp decline from a profit over the last year. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$3.69b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$4.72 in 2025. There looks to have been a significant drop in sentiment regarding JBT Marel's prospects after these latest results, with a minor downgrade to revenues and the analysts now forecasting a loss instead of a profit.

There was no major change to the consensus price target of US$134, signalling that the business is performing roughly in line with expectations, despite lower earnings per share forecasts. 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. The most optimistic JBT Marel analyst has a price target of US$163 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$85.00. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. For example, we noticed that JBT Marel's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 110% growth to the end of 2025 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 2.8% a year over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 3.6% per year. So it looks like JBT Marel is expected to grow faster than its competitors, at least for a while.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts are expecting JBT Marel to become unprofitable next year. They also downgraded JBT Marel's revenue estimates, but industry data suggests that it is expected to grow faster than 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.

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 JBT Marel analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You still need to take note of risks, for example - JBT Marel has 3 warning signs (and 2 which are significant) we think you should know about.

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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.