Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) 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. Results look mixed - while revenue fell marginally short of analyst estimates at US$834m, statutory earnings beat expectations 5.2%, with Central Garden & Pet reporting profits of US$0.98 per share. 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 collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

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Taking into account the latest results, Central Garden & Pet's five analysts currently expect revenues in 2025 to be US$3.19b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to surge 24% to US$2.37. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.23b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.38 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 Central Garden & Pet

The consensus price target rose 7.0% to US$42.33despite there being no meaningful change to earnings estimates. It could be that the analystsare reflecting the predictability of Central Garden & Pet'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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Central Garden & Pet at US$45.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$40.00. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that Central Garden & Pet is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Central Garden & Pet's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 2.2% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 3.6% over the past five years. Compare this against other companies (with analyst forecasts) in the industry, which are in aggregate expected to see revenue growth of 3.0% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than Central Garden & Pet.

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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. 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 also a nice increase in the price target, with the analysts clearly feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Central Garden & Pet analysts - going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted  2 warning signs for Central Garden & Pet you should be aware 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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