Analysts Just Shaved Their Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) Forecasts Dramatically

The analysts covering Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory forecasts for this year. Both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts went under the knife, suggesting analysts have soured majorly on the business.

Following the downgrade, the current consensus from Aterian's five analysts is for revenues of US$241m in 2021 which - if met - would reflect a decent 16% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Losses are expected to be contained, narrowing 14% from last year to US$5.61. Yet before this consensus update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$364m and losses of US$2.94 per share in 2021. Ergo, there's been a clear change in sentiment, with the analysts administering a notable cut to this year's revenue estimates, while at the same time increasing their loss per share forecasts.

Check out our latest analysis for Aterian

The consensus price target fell 75% to US$9.30, with the analysts clearly concerned about the company following the weaker revenue and earnings outlook. 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 Aterian, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$50.00 and the most bearish at US$9.00 per share. So we wouldn't be assigning too much credibility to analyst price targets in this case, because there are clearly some widely differing views on what kind of performance this business can generate. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily on the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that Aterian's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 34% annualised growth rate until the end of 2021 being well below the historical 70% growth over the last year. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 9.3% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while Aterian's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that analysts increased their loss per share estimates for this year. While analysts did downgrade their revenue estimates, these forecasts still imply revenues will perform better than the wider market. Given the scope of the downgrades, it would not be a surprise to see the market become more wary of the business.

After a downgrade like this, it's pretty clear that previous forecasts were too optimistic. What's more, we've spotted several possible issues with Aterian's business, like major dilution from new stock issuance in the past year. For more information, you can click here to discover this and the 2 other concerns we've identified.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are downgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks that insiders are buying.

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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