The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
2126 ET - China is working on embedding AI into tangible applications and physical systems, Citi analysts say in a note after visiting the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. The analysts think one of the key highlights is the showcase of over 300 robots collaborating on real-world tasks. These robots demonstrate "AI's shift from the digital world to physical applications in manufacturing, daily life, and entertainment," they say. Among notable AI products at the exhibit, the analysts highlight Baidu's general-purpose agent, DuMate, which can search for information, write code, build applications, Kingsoft Cloud Holdings' WPS Lingxi, an AI office assistant, among others.(sherry.qin@wsj.com)
2107 ET - Zip's bull at Citi sees potential for the Australian payments provider to beat his full-year earnings forecast on operating costs. Maintaining a buy rating on the stock, analyst Siraj Ahmed tells clients in a note that Citi's analysis of company hiring activity points to a slowdown, which could result in lower-than-expected operating costs for the 12 months through June 2026. Pointing to stronger U.S. volume growth and transaction margins, Ahmed raises his fiscal 2026 cash earnings forecast to 265 million Australian dollars. Citi raises its target price by 37% to A$3.55. Shares are down 1.2% at A$2.945. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
2100 ET - Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment has taken time to realize value from its property portfolio. The plan was first outlined in February 2025. Now, SkyCity is selling properties at 99 Albert Street and Victoria Street for NZ$74.5 million. Forsyth Barr estimates it reduces pro-forma FY 2026 net debt to Ebitda by 30 basis points. Still, analyst Paul Laxton Koraua says it's "an important step toward easing market concerns on the execution of its asset sale program and supporting the removal of S&P's negative watch on its credit rating." The next meaningful potential sale is The Grand Hotel in Auckland. Forsyth Barr estimates it could fetch NZ$200 million-NZ$250 million. It has an outperform call on SkyCity, which is up 0.9% at NZ$0.575. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2056 ET - Global financial markets are likely facing a "triple whammy," Mizuho Securities (Singapore)'s Vishnu Varathan says in an email. First, the "U.S.-Iran conflict escalation [is] teetering on a hot Middle East war," the head of Macro Strategy for APAC says. Second, there are "AI shivers amid overheated valuation worries - triggered by China's Moonshot [AI]," which released the Kimi K3 large language model, he notes. Third, there are "hawkish Fed bets amid worries of hot and sticky inflation," Varathan says. "The threat of a sweltering summer meltdown cannot be dismissed, given the triple-whammy," Varathan adds. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)
2055 ET - Port of Tauranga no longer has a bull in Forsyth Barr after its shares hit a record high recently. Analyst Andy Bowley flags a softer volume backdrop during the final months of FY 2026. Stats NZ data suggest bulk cargo tonnage weakened through 2H, led by log exports. "That said, the company remains on track to achieve its 7% return-on-invested-capital target on operational assets in FY27 and has scope to justifiably lift returns higher over the medium term," Forsyth Barr says. The company's recently published tariff schedule points to another year of robust earnings growth. Forsyth Barr downgrades Port of Tauranga to neutral, from outperform, as an enterprise value-to-Ebitda multiple of 20X looks relatively expensive. Port of Tauranga falls 0.8% at NZ$8.68. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2046 ET - Drinks-to-hotels group Endeavour gets a new bear in Morgan Stanley, which worries that risks to earnings are being compounded by ongoing capital constraints. MS downgrades Endeavour to underweight, from equal-weight. Its price target falls 6.3% to A$3.00/share. "A sales recovery likely requires ongoing price investment, leaving earnings quality lower and limiting scope for a re-rating until sales (and then margins) stabilize," analyst Melinda K. Baxter says. Endeavour falls 4.4% to A$3.29. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2045 ET - Regis Resources' 2H dividend is likely to surprise the market positively, reckons Macquarie. It forecasts a final payout of A$0.18/share. That's some 15% higher than consensus expectations of A$0.157/share. It equates to a FY 2026 dividend yield of 6.0%, which Macquarie describes as exceptional for a gold stock. "Additionally, in an upside scenario where we increased our dividend payout ratio to 50% this would increase our forecast 2HFY26 dividend of A$0.25 (59% above Visible Alpha of A$0.157) and lifting FY26 dividend yield to 7.1%," Macquarie says. It has an outperform call on Regis. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2034 ET - AMP's 1H profit beat was largely driven by growth that Macquarie analysts think should be recurring. The Australian financial group expects a 1H underlying profit of between A$170 million and A$180 million, which is at least A$27 million ahead of where Macquarie's analysts thought it would be. The profit contribution from AMP's China partnerships accounts for A$25 million of the beat relative to the investment bank's forecasts. The analysts tell clients in a note that this growth appears to be recurring, but say they are waiting for more detail about what led to the outcome. Macquarie raises its target price on the stock 6.6% to 1.94 Australian dollars and maintains a neutral rating. Shares are up 1.2% at A$2.045. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
2020 ET - Navigator Global Investments' bull at Macquarie sees the alternative-asset manager entering its new fiscal year with good momentum. Resuming coverage of the stock with an outperform rating, one of the investment bank's analysts writes in a note that 4Q assets-under-management growth across both its Lighthouse and NGI Strategic portfolios provides a solid platform for FY 2027, which began July 1. The analyst tells clients that this is before the expected contributions from the acquisition of its Stable Growth Portfolio, which closed this month. For the most recent fiscal year, Macquarie sees Navigator hitting the midpoint of the company's US$100 million-US$104 million adjusted Ebitda guidance range. Macquarie puts a A$3.28 target price on the stock, which is down 0.85% at A$2.34. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
1949 ET - Jarden's overweight call on Ramsay Health Care is underpinned by expected improvements in its private-hospital business in Australia. That includes an expanded market share and increase in surgical mix. Analyst Steve Wheen also expects Ramsay to lift capacity utilization and expand margins slightly as it achieves private health insurance agreements that cover wage inflation. "In addition, a re-orientation of the Ramsay portfolio should assist with the business's cash generation and returns," Jarden says, noting Ramsay is selling assets in Europe and at home. It retains a A$45.20/share price target on Ramsay, which ended last week at A$43.12. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1918 ET - Australian stocks look set to rise at the open, potentially recovering all the ground lost across two consecutive weekly declines. Local futures are up by 0.6% ahead of Monday's open, suggesting the S&P/ASX 200 will advance at the start of the new trading week. The benchmark index is coming off a 0.1% weekly decline and has lost 0.5% across the past two weeks. Ahead of the open, diversified miner South32 said it exceeded annual production guidance for several commodities. Investors this week will likely have an eye on Thursday's release of June unemployment data, which could inform the Reserve Bank's thinking on interest rates. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 19, 2026 21:26 ET (01:26 GMT)
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