A week ago, Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:NWBI) came out with a strong set of first-quarter numbers that could potentially lead to a re-rate of the stock. It was overall a positive result, with revenues beating expectations by 9.9% to hit US$156m. Northwest Bancshares also reported a statutory profit of US$0.34, which was an impressive 40% above what the analysts had forecast. 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.

We've discovered 1 warning sign about Northwest Bancshares. View them for free.NasdaqGS:NWBI Earnings and Revenue Growth May 10th 2025

Following the latest results, Northwest Bancshares' six analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$651.3m in 2025. This would be a sizeable 26% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to expand 11% to US$1.00. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$647.7m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.97 in 2025. The analysts seems to have become more bullish on the business, judging by their new earnings per share estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for Northwest Bancshares

There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of US$13.38, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on Northwest Bancshares, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$15.00 and the most bearish at US$12.00 per share. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that Northwest Bancshares is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Northwest Bancshares' past performance and to peers in the same industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Northwest Bancshares' growth to accelerate, with the forecast 36% annualised growth to the end of 2025 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 2.9% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 7.1% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Northwest Bancshares to grow faster than the wider industry.

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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 Northwest Bancshares following these results. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Additionally, our data suggests that revenue is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$13.38, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

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 Northwest Bancshares going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Even so, be aware that  Northwest Bancshares is showing  1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about...

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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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