Shareholders of Colony Bankcorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBAN) will be pleased this week, given that the stock price is up 14% to US$15.45 following its latest quarterly results. Colony Bankcorp reported in line with analyst predictions, delivering revenues of US$28m and statutory earnings per share of US$0.31, suggesting the business is executing well and in line with its plan. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. 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 Colony Bankcorp from two analysts is for revenues of US$115.4m in 2024. If met, it would imply a credible 5.5% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be US$1.28, approximately in line with the last 12 months. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$114.5m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.26 in 2024. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

With the analysts reconfirming their revenue and earnings forecasts, it's surprising to see that the price target rose 9.3% to US$14.63. It looks as though they previously had some doubts over whether the business would live up to their expectations.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Colony Bankcorp's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2024 expected to display 11% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 15% 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 6.3% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while Colony Bankcorp's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected 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.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At least one analyst has provided forecasts out to 2025, which can be seen for free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Colony Bankcorp that you should be aware of.

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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.

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