Results: Tidewater Inc. Exceeded Expectations And The Consensus Has Updated Its Estimates

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) just released its latest first-quarter results and things are looking bullish. It was overall a positive result, with revenues beating expectations by 2.3% to hit US$333m. Tidewater also reported a statutory profit of US$0.83, which was an impressive 46% 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.

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Following last week's earnings report, Tidewater's six analysts are forecasting 2025 revenues to be US$1.35b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to sink 13% to US$3.03 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$1.35b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$3.40 in 2025. So there's definitely been a decline in sentiment after the latest results, noting the substantial drop in new EPS forecasts.

View our latest analysis for Tidewater

It might be a surprise to learn that the consensus price target was broadly unchanged at US$58.86, with the analysts clearly implying that the forecast decline in earnings is not expected to have much of an impact on valuation. 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. The most optimistic Tidewater analyst has a price target of US$76.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$30.00. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 0.7% annualised decline to the end of 2025. That is a notable change from historical growth of 30% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 3.2% per year. It's pretty clear that Tidewater's revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest concern is that the analysts reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds could lay ahead for Tidewater. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$58.86, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

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 forecasts for Tidewater going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You can also see whether Tidewater is carrying too much debt, and whether its balance sheet is healthy, for free on our platform here.

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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.