Could Rolls-Royce shares hit £18? Here's what I expect

A free opinion piece argues that Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) could potentially reach £18 in the coming years, despite a pullback since the stock’s surge. The article notes the shares are up 851% over five years but were around £13.71 as of 13 October, down by a couple of pounds over the prior two months. It attributes the dip partly to valuation: Rolls trades at about 47 times earnings. Still, the business performance has continued to improve, with first-half revenues up by a fifth and a 21% uplift in profit that translated into a 17% increase in statutory operating profit and 41% growth in underlying basic earnings per share. Rolls forecast £4.7bn–£4.9bn in underlying operating profit and £3.8bn–£4bn in free cash flow for the full year, saying the key to £18 is meeting targets consistently.