Investors in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH) had a good week, as its shares rose 7.4% to close at US$24.88 following the release of its third-quarter results. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings reported US$2.8b in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.95 beat expectations, being 2.6% higher than what the analysts expected. 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. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

See our latest analysis for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings

Following the latest results, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' 18 analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$10.2b in 2025. This would be a solid 8.6% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to bounce 49% to US$1.87. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$10.1b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.77 in 2025. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' earnings potential following these results.

There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of US$26.27, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. The most optimistic Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings analyst has a price target of US$32.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$19.00. This shows there is still a bit of diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.

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. We would highlight that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 6.8% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 23% p.a. growth over the last five years. Compare this against other companies (with analyst forecasts) in the industry, which are in aggregate expected to see revenue growth of 9.6% annually. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.