Shareholders in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. The analysts have sharply increased their revenue numbers, with a view that ONEOK will make substantially more sales than they'd previously expected. The stock price has risen 6.0% to US$92.46 over the past week, suggesting investors are becoming more optimistic. Whether the upgrade is enough to drive the stock price higher is yet to be seen, however.

Following the upgrade, the current consensus from ONEOK's twelve analysts is for revenues of US$39b in 2026 which - if met - would reflect a solid 9.8% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to be US$5.71, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Previously, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$35b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$5.74 in 2026. So it looks like there's been no major change in sentiment in this consensus update, although the analysts have made a slight bump in revenue forecasts.

It may not be a surprise to see that the analysts have reconfirmed their price target of US$94.81, implying that the uplift in sales is not expected to greatly contribute to ONEOK's valuation in the near term.

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. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that ONEOK's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2026 expected to display 13% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 17% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 3.5% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while ONEOK'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 there's been no major change in sentiment, with analysts reconfirming that earnings per share are expected to continue performing in line with their prior expectations. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. Given that analysts appear to be expecting substantial improvement in the sales pipeline, now could be the right time to take another look at ONEOK.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for ONEOK going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here..

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

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.