Earnings Update: Here's Why Analysts Just Lifted Their CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE:CBZ) Price Target To US$78.00

Last week, you might have seen that CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE:CBZ) released its first-quarter result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 2.9% to US$72.76 in the past week. CBIZ reported in line with analyst predictions, delivering revenues of US$494m and statutory earnings per share of US$1.53, suggesting the business is executing well and in line with its plan. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

View our latest analysis for CBIZ

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from CBIZ's three analysts is for revenues of US$1.72b in 2024. This reflects a modest 5.4% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to accumulate 9.2% to US$2.73. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$1.72b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.72 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

The consensus price target rose 8.3% to US$78.00despite there being no meaningful change to earnings estimates. It could be that the analystsare reflecting the predictability of CBIZ's earnings by assigning a price premium. 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. There are some variant perceptions on CBIZ, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$80.00 and the most bearish at US$76.00 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting CBIZ is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

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. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that CBIZ's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2024 expected to display 7.3% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 13% 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 5.5% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while CBIZ's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

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. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with the analysts clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for CBIZ going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here..

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for CBIZ that you need to be mindful of.

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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.