The Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price will be one to watch next week.
On 22 February, the hearing solutions company is scheduled to release its half year results.
Ahead of the release, let's take a look to see what the market is expecting from Cochlear.
What should you expect from Cochlear?
The market is expecting a mildly positive half year result from Cochlear next week. According to a note out of Citi, the market consensus estimate is for a net profit of $127.6 million.
This is up marginally on the prior corresponding period when the company reported a net profit of $125.3 million.
However, Citi is expecting Cochlear to outperform the market's expectations. It is forecasting a first half net profit of $140.9 million, representing growth of 12.5% over the prior corresponding period.
If Cochlear were to achieve Citi's estimate, it would mean it is on course to deliver on its guidance in FY 2022. At its annual general meeting, management reaffirmed its FY 2022 guidance for underlying net profit growth of between 12% and 20%.
Management advised that this is expected to be underpinned by market growth, with a continuing recovery in surgery rates across many countries more affected by COVID.
What are others saying?
While it hasn't provided a first half estimate, the team at Goldman Sachs expects a full year result in August ahead of guidance.
It commented: "We forecast $288m NPAT (17.7% margin) in FY22, which remains above COH guidance of $265-285m."
Though, the broker has warned that while COVID headwinds are easing, "it is possible there is some persistent hesitancy amongst a proportion of its target market in DMs (aged 70+)." Therefore, investors may want to listen out for any commentary on that front.
All in all, the result could be one of the more interesting ones this season.
