F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) came out with its quarterly results last week, and we wanted to see how the business is performing and what industry forecasters think of the company following this report. Revenues were US$731m, approximately in line with expectations, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) performed substantially better. EPS of US$2.48 were also better than expected, beating analyst predictions by 14%. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

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Following the latest results, F5's 13 analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$3.02b in 2025. This would be an okay 2.8% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to reduce 2.4% to US$10.47 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$3.01b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$10.30 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

See our latest analysis for F5

It will come as no surprise then, to learn that the consensus price target is largely unchanged at US$290. 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 F5 analyst has a price target of US$320 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$260. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that F5 is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. The analysts are definitely expecting F5's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 5.7% annualised growth to the end of 2025 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 4.4% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to see revenue growth of 7.5% annually. So it's clear that despite the acceleration in growth, F5 is expected to grow meaningfully slower than the industry average.

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The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse 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.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have forecasts for F5 going out to 2027, 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 F5 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.

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