Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE:4503) Just Reported Yearly Earnings: Have Analysts Changed Their Mind On The Stock?

Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE:4503) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 7.8% to JP¥2,306 in the week after its latest yearly results. Revenues of JP¥2.1t were in line with forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) came in below expectations at JP¥163, missing estimates by 4.8%. 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. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Astellas Pharma's twelve analysts is for revenues of JP¥2.24t in 2027. This reflects a modest 4.5% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to expand 13% to JP¥184. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of JP¥2.22t and earnings per share (EPS) of JP¥192 in 2027. So it looks like there's been a small decline in overall sentiment after the recent results - there's been no major change to revenue estimates, but the analysts did make a minor downgrade to their earnings per share forecasts. View our latest analysis for Astellas Pharma It might be a surprise to learn that the consensus price target was broadly unchanged at JP¥2,418, with the analysts clearly implying that the forecast decline in earnings is not expected to have much of an impact on valuation. 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. There are some variant perceptions on Astellas Pharma, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at JP¥2,950 and the most bearish at JP¥1,600 per share. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable. These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Astellas Pharma's past performance and to peers in the same industry. We would highlight that Astellas Pharma's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 4.5% annualised growth rate until the end of 2027 being well below the historical 11% p.a. growth over the last five years. Compare this to the 41 other companies in this industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenue at 4.1% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it looks like Astellas Pharma is forecast to grow at about the same rate as the wider industry. The Bottom Line The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. They also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, with the company predicted to grow at about the same rate as 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. With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Astellas Pharma. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Astellas Pharma going out to 2029, and you can see them free on our platform here.. You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted 1 warning sign for Astellas Pharma you should be aware of.