Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) just released its quarterly report and things are looking bullish. Ross Stores beat earnings, with revenues hitting US$6.0b, ahead of expectations, and statutory earnings per share outperforming analyst reckonings by a solid 17%. 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.

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Ross Stores from 18 analysts is for revenues of US$25.1b in 2027. If met, it would imply a credible 5.7% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to accumulate 8.5% to US$7.80. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$24.5b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$7.39 in 2027. It looks like there's been a modest increase in sentiment following the latest results, withthe analysts becoming a bit more optimistic in their predictions for both revenues and earnings.

With these upgrades, we're not surprised to see that the analysts have lifted their price target 8.2% to US$256per share. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic Ross Stores analyst has a price target of US$290 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$176. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await Ross Stores shareholders.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Ross Stores' past performance and to peers in the same industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Ross Stores' growth to accelerate, with the forecast 7.7% annualised growth to the end of 2027 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 6.1% 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 6.2% per year. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Ross Stores is expected to grow much faster than its industry.

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 Ross Stores following these results. Happily, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and are forecasting them to grow faster than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

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 Ross Stores going out to 2029, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You should always think about risks though.

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.