Shareholders in The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (TADAWUL:4030) may be thrilled to learn that the analysts have just delivered a major upgrade to their near-term forecasts. Consensus estimates suggest investors could expect greatly increased statutory revenues and earnings per share, with the analysts modelling a real improvement in business performance.

After this upgrade, National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia's three analysts are now forecasting revenues of ر.س14b in 2026. This would be a satisfactory 7.5% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to jump 25% to ر.س5.48. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of ر.س11b and earnings per share (EPS) of ر.س3.49 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 National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia 8.8% to ر.س40.70 on the back of these upgrades.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2026 expected to display 7.5% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 13% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 0.2% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia'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 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. With a serious upgrade to expectations and a rising price target, it might be time to take another look at National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia.

These earnings upgrades look like a sterling endorsement, but before diving in - you should know that we've spotted 3 potential flags with National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, including a weak balance sheet. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about this and the 2 other flags we've identified .

Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, here.

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.