The latest analyst coverage could presage a bad day for New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB), with the analysts making across-the-board cuts to their statutory estimates that might leave shareholders a little shell-shocked. Revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts were both revised downwards, with analysts seeing grey clouds on the horizon.

Following the downgrade, the most recent consensus for New York Community Bancorp from its nine analysts is for revenues of US$2.6b in 2024 which, if met, would be a substantial 27% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. The loss per share is anticipated to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 72% to US$2.55. Yet prior to the latest estimates, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$2.9b and losses of US$2.10 per share in 2024. Ergo, there's been a clear change in sentiment, with the analysts administering a notable cut to this year's revenue estimates, while at the same time increasing their loss per share forecasts.

Check out our latest analysis for New York Community Bancorp

The consensus price target fell 5.5% to US$11.58, implicitly signalling that lower earnings per share are a leading indicator for New York Community Bancorp's valuation.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. The analysts are definitely expecting New York Community Bancorp's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 60% annualised growth to the end of 2024 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 21% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 6.4% annually. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect New York Community Bancorp to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to note from this downgrade is that the consensus increased its forecast losses this year, suggesting all may not be well at New York Community Bancorp. Unfortunately, analysts also downgraded their revenue estimates, although our data indicates revenues are expected to perform better than the wider market. With a serious cut to this year's expectations and a falling price target, we wouldn't be surprised if investors were becoming wary of New York Community Bancorp.

Even so, the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for the value creation of shareholders. We have estimates - from multiple New York Community Bancorp analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are downgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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