Celebrations may be in order for Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The consensus estimated revenue numbers rose, with their view now clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects. Investors have been pretty optimistic on Sterling Infrastructure too, with the stock up 71% to US$806 over the past week. Could this upgrade be enough to drive the stock even higher?

Following the upgrade, the most recent consensus for Sterling Infrastructure from its five analysts is for revenues of US$3.8b in 2026 which, if met, would be a huge 52% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to shoot up 51% to US$14.29. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.1b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$11.84 in 2026. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analysts substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.

It will come as no surprise to learn that the analysts have increased their price target for Sterling Infrastructure 32% to US$673 on the back of these upgrades.

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. The analysts are definitely expecting Sterling Infrastructure's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 75% annualised growth to the end of 2026 ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 12% per annum over the past five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to grow their revenue 11% annually. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Sterling Infrastructure to grow faster than the wider 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. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with analysts apparently feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving. Given that analysts appear to be expecting substantial improvement in the sales pipeline, now could be the right time to take another look at Sterling Infrastructure.

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 Sterling Infrastructure 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.