Last week, you might have seen that West African Resources Limited (ASX:WAF) released its half-yearly result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 2.4% to AU$1.43 in the past week. Revenues were AU$344m, approximately in line with whatthe analysts expected, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) crushed expectations, coming in at AU$0.079, an impressive 32% ahead of estimates. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on West African Resources after the latest results.

View our latest analysis for West African Resources

Following the latest results, West African Resources' twin analysts are now forecasting revenues of AU$712.6m in 2024. This would be a reasonable 2.4% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to grow 16% to AU$0.16. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of AU$710.3m and earnings per share (EPS) of AU$0.15 in 2024. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on West African Resources' earnings potential following these results.

The analysts have been lifting their price targets on the back of the earnings upgrade, with the consensus price target rising 13% to AU$1.98.

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 clear from the latest estimates that West African Resources' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 4.8% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 1.4% p.a. over the past three years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 1.5% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect West African Resources to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards West African Resources following these results. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.