Shareholders might have noticed that Krones AG (ETR:KRN) filed its half-year result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 7.9% to €117 in the past week. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of €1.3b and statutory earnings per share of €4.27 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that Krones is executing in line with expectations. 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. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

See our latest analysis for Krones

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Krones' ten analysts is for revenues of €5.31b in 2024. This would reflect a modest 6.3% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to swell 17% to €8.80. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of €5.29b and earnings per share (EPS) of €8.87 in 2024. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of €153, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. 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. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Krones at €172 per share, while the most bearish prices it at €130. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that Krones 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 clear from the latest estimates that Krones' rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with the forecast 13% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2024 noticeably faster than its historical growth of 5.6% p.a. over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 4.6% annually. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Krones to grow faster than the wider industry.