Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making substantial upgrades to this year's statutory forecasts. The analysts greatly increased their revenue estimates, suggesting a stark improvement in business fundamentals.

After the upgrade, the twelve analysts covering Southern Copper are now predicting revenues of US$16b in 2026. If met, this would reflect a decent 17% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to surge 38% to US$7.31. Previously, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$14b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.02 in 2026. So we can see there's been a pretty clear increase in analyst sentiment in recent times, with both revenues and earnings per share receiving a decent lift in the latest estimates.

With these upgrades, we're not surprised to see that the analysts have lifted their price target 7.8% to US$149 per share.

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. The analysts are definitely expecting Southern Copper's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 17% annualised growth to the end of 2026 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 5.5% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 9.3% annually. Factoring in the forecast acceleration in revenue, it's pretty clear that Southern Copper is expected to grow much faster than its industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away from this upgrade is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates for this year, expecting improving business conditions. They also upgraded their revenue estimates for this year, and sales are expected to grow faster than the wider market. With a serious upgrade to expectations and a rising price target, it might be time to take another look at Southern Copper.

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 Southern Copper going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies backed by insiders.

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.