Better word for 'believe' or 'think'

It's common to write something like "We believe that XYZ corp will continue to see an increase in sales in the next quarter."

But the word "believe" seems like a somewhat flimsy way of persuading someone. If we have evidence or experience to support our position, then isn't it more than a belief?

One of our analysts writes "think" instead of believe, which makes better sense to me but sounds awkward because it is uncommon.

Can anyone suggest better words to use? (there are some issues when dealing with securities but we don't always write about them). We could probably say "We are confident that our research capabilities can provide you with yadda yadda" but not "We are confident that XYZ corp can increase revenue".

What about "concluded"?

Solution 1:

"On the basis of our analysis, we anticipate....." Anticipate: ..."to foresee...to expect..." Webster's New Collegiate. Or, "on the basis of our analysis, we expect.." Expect: "to look for with some confidence" Webster's New Collegiate. Then produce a convincing analysis, which includes consideration of what could go wrong.

Solution 2:

If you want to use something more specific to the business world, you could try "to project", which is defined by oxforddictionaries.com as "[to] estimate or forecast (something) on the basis of present trends".