Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) just released its third-quarter report and things are looking bullish. It was overall a positive result, with revenues beating expectations by 2.6% to hit US$29b. Humana also reported a statutory profit of US$3.98, which was an impressive 25% above what the analysts had forecast. 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.

View our latest analysis for Humana

Taking into account the latest results, the consensus forecast from Humana's 20 analysts is for revenues of US$118.4b in 2025. This reflects a credible 2.9% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to leap 46% to US$16.51. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$116.6b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$18.85 in 2025. The analysts seem to have become more bearish following the latest results. While there were no changes to revenue forecasts, there was a real cut to EPS estimates.

It might be a surprise to learn that the consensus price target was broadly unchanged at US$292, with the analysts clearly implying that the forecast decline in earnings is not expected to have much of an impact on valuation. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic Humana analyst has a price target of US$425 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$247. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. We would highlight that Humana's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 2.3% annualised growth rate until the end of 2025 being well below the historical 11% 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 6.7% annually. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Humana is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.