Research Analysts Set Expectations for Icon FY2025 Earnings

Key Points

• Leerink Partners has downgraded their earnings forecast for Icon Plc, projecting FY2025 earnings at $12.67 per share, down from a prior estimate of $12.79.
• While Leerink has a negative outlook, other analysts have revised their price targets upwards; Mizuho, Truist, and Evercore ISI raised their targets significantly, indicating a divided analyst consensus on Icon's stock.
• Icon's stock is currently trading at $175.82, with a market capitalization of $14.20 billion and a recent earnings report showing a decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs dropped their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Icon in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, August 12th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings of $12.67 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $12.79. The consensus estimate for Icon's current full-year earnings is $13.38 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Icon's FY2026 earnings at $13.51 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $15.57 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $17.28 EPS.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.08. Icon had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ICLR. Robert W. Baird upgraded Icon from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Icon from $187.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Icon from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Icon from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Icon currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.54.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of Icon stock traded up $2.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $178.56. 867,373 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,688,031. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Icon has a 1-year low of $125.10 and a 1-year high of $328.35. The company has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.17. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $156.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.77.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Icon

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Icon by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,045,039,000 after buying an additional 2,893,946 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P acquired a new position in shares of Icon during the 2nd quarter valued at $238,256,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Icon during the 2nd quarter valued at $158,639,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Icon by 587.9% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,151,328 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $167,461,000 after acquiring an additional 983,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Icon in the second quarter worth $94,814,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.61% of the company's stock.

About Icon

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies.