0410 GMT - The risk of buying shares in ASX-listed engineering giant Worley outweigh the rewards, according to Jefferies. The bank says it sees better opportunities in other industrial stocks. It reiterates a hold rating and lowers its share-price target to 10.61 Australian dollars from A$11.48. Worley cautions of deeper-than-anticipated hit to earnings from Middle East project delays. "Worryingly, these impacts will likely spill into FY27," Jefferies says. "Current valuation discounts the uncertain outlook, but we remain well below VA [Visible Alpha] estimates and see limited near term catalysts for a re-rate." Shares are down 4.2% at A$10.62, adding to Thursday's 9.7% loss. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)
0320 GMT - The selloff in Worley shares seems excessive, Citi says. "Overall, we think the fundamentals remain intact," says analyst Tom Wallington. His remarks follow an earnings downgrade from the engineering giant related to Middle East project delays and a stronger Australian dollar. A reopened 2015 class action adds uncertainty but exposure is largely contained by insurance, Wallington says. Citi reiterates a buy rating on Worley and lowers its target to A$12.50 from A$13.60. Shares are down 4.3% at A$10.60, adding to Thursday's 9.7% loss. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)
0209 GMT - Judo Capital's guidance downgrade raises concerns at Morgan Stanley about the Australian business lender's ability to meet its scale targets while managing risk. Despite Judo's assurances, the investment bank's analysts suspect that efforts to grow the loan book without sacrificing margins have increased risk by more than its loss-rate target implies. They say they're surprised at how quickly loan losses have grown, pointing out that operating conditions started to deteriorate in March and that other banks' credit quality remains sound. They wonder about the effectiveness of its underwriting and early risk detection. MS has a last-published overweight rating on the stock and a target price of 1.85 Australian dollars. Shares are down 14% at A$0.9025. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
0148 GMT - Zip's turnaround is one of the best that United Capital Partners analyst Jonathon Higgins says he's ever seen. The Australian payments provider is on course to report annual cash earnings of more than 260 million Australian dollars just three years after a A$50 million cash earnings loss. Higgins tells clients in a note that he expects fiscal 2027 cash earnings of more than A$300 million just from Zip's U.S. operations. He thinks that the market is underrating Zip's cost control and discipline, and sees its U.S. exposure as a huge positive. "Sustainable earnings momentum against structural growth is hard to find on the ASX currently." UCPS has a buy rating on the stock and a target price of A$4.85. Shares are down 2.9% at A$2.845. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
0127 GMT - Judo Capital keeps its bull at Jefferies despite questions over the Australian business lender's asset quality and risk settings. The stock tanked 40% on its guidance downgrade but Jefferies analyst Andrew Lyons points out that its revised outlook still implies annual underlying profit growth of about 30% over the two years to fiscal 2027. At a 40% discount to net tangible assets, Lyons maintains a buy rating on the stock. He tells clients in a note that the share-price reaction to the downgrade was severe. Valuation multiples now more than compensate investors for risks, he adds. Jefferies cuts its target price by 29% to 1.64 Australian dollars. Shares are down 1.4% at A$0.9025. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
0027 GMT - Life360's bull at Bell Potter expects investors to start focusing on the positives at the tracking app developer, after digesting a single short-term negative. The only reason analyst Chris Savage sees for investors' recent focus on relatively low growth in global active users is that Life360 may not have done a good job explaining the technical issues behind it. He reminds clients in a note that paid subscriptions are what drive revenue growth, and points out that these were very strong in the March quarter. Savage raises his subscription growth forecasts for the remainder of 2026 and reckons this metric will soon draw more attention. Bell Potter keeps a buy rating on Life360's ASX-listed stock and raises its target price 1.5% to 33.00 Australian dollars. Shares are at A$23.52. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
2339 GMT - Comet Ridge's capital raising to buy out joint venture partner Santos in the Mahalo natural-gas project in Australia surprises its bull at Bell Potter. Comet Ridge is raising up to 45 million Australian dollars to acquire Santos's stake and expects to make a final investment decision on Mahalo in 1Q of 2027. "We had previously expected Comet Ridge would introduce a project level partner to fund both the Santos acquisition and the Mahalo development, the latter of which remains pending," says analyst Stuart Howe. Bell Potter's price target falls 33% to A$0.14/share. That reflects the impact of Comet Ridge's share placement and share purchase plan, alongside project delays and an assessment of the company's future equity requirements. Comet Ridge last traded at A$0.099. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2302 GMT - All eyes are now on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as it weighs clearance of Echo IQ's EchoSolv heart-failure product, says Petra Capital. Clearance will trigger another A$10 million payment as part of Echo IQ's heads of agreement with Pro Medicus, which establishes a U.S. commercial partnership. Analyst Tanushree Jain says FDA clearance is highly likely and key to unlocking the U.S. commercial opportunity. She says that, timing wise, it has parallels to Pro Medicus's investment in ASX-listed 4DMedical. This investment was made just before FDA clearance of 4DMedical's CTVQ product and led to 4DMedical's share price rising strongly, which continued after FDA clearance. Petra Capital lifts its price target on Echo IQ by 19%, to A$1.30/share, and retains a "hold" call. Echo IQ ended Thursday at A$1.615. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2230 GMT - Ord Minnett is delighted with Echo IQ's heads of agreement with Pro Medicus to establish the framework for a strategic investment and U.S. commercial partnership. Pro Medicus will invest an initial A$10 million. This will be followed by another A$10 million if Echo IQ's EchoSolv product gets approval by the Food and Drug Administration. "We view the key benefits of the deal as three-fold," says analyst Tom Godfrey. It is a material endorsement and a validation datapoint from a global imaging tech leader in Pro Medicus. It also gives a timely boost to Echo IQ's cash position and leads to a step-change in its immediate U.S. commercialization opportunity. Ord Minnett raises its price target on Echo IQ by 20%, to A$1.80/share. Echo IQ ended Thursday at A$1.615. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2221 GMT - DigiCo Infrastructure REIT is upgraded to "buy," from "hold," by Jefferies as it advances development of its SYD1 data center in Sydney. Analyst Roger Samuel says DigiCo Infrastructure REIT is making good progress with the initial 20-megawatt upgrade at SYD1. "We have reasonable confidence that the next lot of upgrade (circa 40 MW) will be underway soon," Jefferies says. Demand is very strong in Sydney and Jefferies expects DigiCo Infrastructure REIT to be able to lease out the additional capacities as they come online. "Another catalyst is a special dividend in FY27 post-sale of U.S. assets," says Jefferies. "Valuation is lower than peers." Its price target rises 7.1%, to A$3.00/share. DigiCo Infrastructure REIT ended Thursday at A$2.43. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
0504 GMT - Baby Bunting's weak trading update doesn't seem to have unsettled the Australian retailer's bulls at Morgan Stanley. The investment bank's analysts tell clients in a note that they think that headwinds facing the ASX-listed company are temporary, and that they still expect growth to accelerate in its next fiscal year. The midpoint of Baby Bunting's revised fiscal 2026 sales guidance range is about 5% lower than previous forecasts at MS, but the analysts say they are unsurprised by the retailer's update. They point out that the earnings downgrade is largely driven by softness at the stores that Baby Bunting has yet to refurbish. MS has a last-published overweight rating on the stock and a target price of 3.60 Australian dollars. Shares are down 3.9% at A$1.4125. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2026 01:00 ET (05:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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