Shareholders might have noticed that Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR) filed its annual result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 9.4% to US$47.20 in the past week. It was a pretty bad result overall; while revenues were in line with expectations at US$2.9b, statutory losses exploded to US$22.37 per share. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Nabors Industries

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Nabors Industries' six analysts is for revenues of US$3.12b in 2025. This would reflect an okay 6.5% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share statutory losses are expected to explode, reaching US$12.85 per share. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.58b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.00 in 2025. So we can see that the consensus has become notably more bearish on Nabors Industries' outlook following these results, with a real cut to next year's revenue estimates. Furthermore, they expect the business to be loss-making next year, compared to their previous calls for a profit.

The consensus price target fell 11% to US$77.13, with the analysts clearly concerned about the company following the weaker revenue and earnings outlook. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on Nabors Industries, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$115 and the most bearish at US$54.00 per share. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's clear from the latest estimates that Nabors Industries' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 6.5% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 4.9% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 4.3% annually. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Nabors Industries to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts are expecting Nabors Industries to become unprofitable next year. They also downgraded Nabors Industries' revenue estimates, but industry data suggests that it is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target fell measurably, with the analysts seemingly not reassured by the latest results, leading to a lower estimate of Nabors Industries' future valuation.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have estimates - from multiple Nabors Industries analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You can also view our analysis of Nabors Industries' balance sheet, and whether we think Nabors Industries is carrying too much debt, for free on our 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.