The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
2011 ET - Hanwha Ocean could get a valuation boost of up to KRW15.6 trillion, equivalent to $11.39 billion, from its entry into the U.S. shipbuilding market, say Korea Investment & Securities analysts Kang Kyung-tae and Nam Chae-min. The analysts expect the South Korean shipbuilder's value could increase by KRW12.4 trillion after raising its stake in Austal to become the largest shareholder in the Australia-based U.S. military shipbuilder. Hanwha could also get an extra KRW3.2 trillion valuation boost from its recent acquisition of a U.S. shipyard in Philadelphia, they reckon. Hanwha is valued at an estimated KRW35 trillion in total, they add. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)
1958 ET - Travel software developer Serko's reset to expectations persuades Forsyth Barr to upgrade the stock to outperform, from neutral. Analyst James Lindsay thinks Serko can halt "a prolonged sales downgrade cycle" by achieving the midpoint of its guidance for FY 2026 total income. "With valuation near trough levels relative to peers and history, we see a favorable risk-reward backdrop if Serko can restore confidence in its growth trajectory," Forsyth Barr says. It estimates Serko's core business can deliver more than NZ$35 million of Ebitda by FY 2028. Serko is up 0.3% at NZ$2.92. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1949 ET - Charlatans and snake oil salesmen beware. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has issued warning notices to 18 so-called social media finfluencers suspected of unlawfully promoting high-risk financial products and providing unlicensed financial advice to Australians. The move is part of a global week of action against unlawful finfluencers by nine international market regulators in countries including the UK, UAE, Italy and Canada. Actions so far included arrests, warning notices, and website takedowns. (james.glynn@wsj.com; @JamesGlynnWSJ)
1946 ET - Japanese stocks may decline as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs persists. A stronger yen may also weigh on the market. Nikkei futures are down 0.3% at 38320 on the SGX. USD/JPY is at 144.21, down sharply from 145.22 as of Wednesday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on any developments related to U.S. tariffs and the war in Ukraine. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5% to 38421.19 on Wednesday.(kosaku.narioka@wsj.com)
1924 ET - IVE Group's investor day next week could come with an earnings upgrade, says Bell Potter. IVE expects its FY 2025 underlying net profit to total A$47 million-A$50 million. Analyst Chris Savage thinks an earnings upgrade will happen because IVE didn't change its guidance in February when reporting its 1H result. Bell Potter also notes FY 2025 is nearly finished. "The key reason why we believe the company will upgrade is the current guidance implies a much lower underlying net profit result in 2H relative to 1H," the bank says. IVE reported a 1H underlying net profit of A$29.3 million, so it only needs to beat A$20.7 million in 2H to clear the top end of its guidance. Bell Potter has a "buy" call on IVE. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1854 ET [Dow Jones]--Oxford Industries is looking to rapidly diversify its supply chain away from China, with plans to cut its sourcing from 40% in 2024 to 30% this year and 10% next year, management says during a call with analysts. By the second half of 2026, Oxford plans to be substantially out of the country, management says. In the near term, though, the clothing company didn't have time to mitigate its reliance ahead of its key spring and summer seasons. "There's really nothing we could do about that," an executive says. "So it'll hit us hard in 2025." The company expects $40 million in added tariff costs over the year. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1846 ET [Dow Jones]--Metcash's merger of its Independent Hardware Group and Total Tools businesses wasn't the outcome that Jarden wanted. It felt that Metcash could have spun off hardware to close a valuation gap. "The decision to merge the businesses delays, in our view, any likely action here, with Metcash focused on the cycle turning to demonstrate the earnings power of hardware," analyst Ben Gilbert says. Jarden retains an overweight call on the stock and trims its price target by 2.4% to A$4.00/share. Metcash ended Wednesday at A$3.64. (david.winning@wsj.com)
1835 ET - Euroz Hartleys sees a silver lining to Austin Engineering's earnings miss. Austin signaled its FY 2025 Ebit would be A$41 million. That is down from earlier guidance of A$50 million. Austin attributed the miss to setbacks at its facility in Chile. Some orders for there will now be completed at its Batam plant in Indonesia. Analyst Trent Barnett says this could be viewed as positive because it shows that customers don't have many alternatives to Austin. "Also, if Austin performs well, there is plenty more work the customer could order from Batam given it also has global customer base," Euroz Hartleys says. The bank lowers its price target by 18%, to A$0.70/share. Austin ended Wednesday at A$0.32. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1827 ET - Johns Lyng didn't specify what Pacific Equity Partners is offering to acquire the company, prompting Jefferies to assess what a bid could be worth. It estimates an offer could be between A$3.79/share and A$4.17/share, depending on what valuation method is used. Johns Lyng ended Wednesday at A$2.99. Analyst Tom Chapman had viewed Johns Lyng as undervalued before PEP's interest became known. "It is extremely unusual for announcements like this to not disclose an indicative purchase price, so we wonder what the ASX's view of this is given the market is now trading without being fully informed," Jefferies said. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1826 ET - With consumers increasingly cautious when it comes to discretionary purchases, Oxford Industries continued to see customers respond most strongly to new products last quarter, CEO Tom Chubb says on a call with analysts. That's particularly true at Lilly Pulitzer, where new activewear and a strong range of prints resonated with the brand's top 20% highest-spending customers, who account for a majority of the brand's sales and profitability, he says. Lilly continues to focus on such customers with new, on-trend products consistent with the brand's DNA, he says. Lilly's sales rose 12% in the quarter, helping partially offset declining sales at Tommy Bahama and Johnny Was. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1707 ET - Oxford Industries slashed its full-year profit outlook as it expects tariffs to continue to raise costs, joining a host of retailers like PVH and Gap warning of big tariff hits in recent weeks. Oxford saw $1 million in additional tariff-related charges in 1Q, and expects $40 million in such costs over the full year, it says in its quarterly earnings report. CEO Tom Chubb says uncertain trade dynamics are significantly impacting the industry and operating landscape, and the company has made progress in diversifying and shifting its supply chain to limit the impact of future tariff changes. Shares fall 11% after hours. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)
1604 ET - U.S. stocks post small losses as inflation continues to show little signs of tariff impact, and China temporarily restores rare-earth licenses for American companies, seen as a key breakthroughs in the latest round of trade talks. Energy is the strongest S&P 500 sector as oil prices rally over 4%, while the dollar and bond yields fall. DJIA slips 1 point to 42865, the S&P 500 falls 0.3% to 6022 and the Nasdaq drops 0.5% to 19615. Tomorrow's data include weekly jobless claims and the producer price index for May. (patrick.sullivan@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 11, 2025 20:11 ET (00:11 GMT)
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