0435 GMT - Temple & Webster's bulls at Morgan Stanley reckon that the online furniture retailer is uniquely placed to capitalize on macro-economic tailwinds in Australia and globally. MS analysts tell clients in a note that furniture demand is rising against a backdrop of falling interest rates, strong employment, rising home prices, and increasing housing turnover. Lower shipping costs and potential procurement savings in China also look like positives. They acknowledge risks from uneven sales growth and moderating margins as the company keeps investing in growth, but maintain an overweight rating on the stock. Its target price is raised 14% to A$32.00. Shares are down 11% at A$25.11, giving back their strong gains of the prior two sessions. ([email protected])

0358 GMT - Telstra's bulls at Morgan Stanley are keeping a close watch on the Australian company's new satellite trials, which represent a way for it to entrench its connectivity leadership. They say this leadership is essential if Telstra's stock is to maintain its premium valuation relative to its peers. They tell clients that the stock would likely de-rate if one of Telstra's rivals takes leadership of satellite connectivity, which is important in a country with large areas of limited infrastructure. MS trims its target price 1% to A$4.95 and stays overweight on the stock, which is down 0.2% at A$4.84. ([email protected])

0134 GMT - Telstra's mobile growth is likely to have remained subdued into the first half of its current fiscal year, UBS analysts warn. They tell clients in a note that mobile was the main area of softness in the Australian telecommunications provider's annual result, with factors including the removal of idle services and the closure of Telstra's 3G network. They say that Telstra management expects more rational mobile pricing across the industry through to the end of the calendar year, but also lower growth. UBS lifts its target price 4.3% to A$4.80. Shares are up 0.2% at A$4.86. ([email protected])

0119 GMT - Telstra's A$1 billion share buyback isn't enough to keep Jarden analysts positive. They lower their recommendation on the stock to neutral from overweight, telling clients in a note that weaker-than-expected growth in postpaid mobile services is softening the outlook. With prepaid growth strong at both Telstra's wholesale business and rival TPG Telecom, the view at Jarden is that cost-of-living pressures have built up and prompted consumers to look for cheaper services. The analysts lower their EPS forecasts for fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027. Target price falls by 2.0% to A$4.80. Shares are up 0.5% at A$4.875. ([email protected])

0118 GMT - HomeCo Daily Needs REIT's earnings guidance could prove too low, suggests Macquarie. HomeCo Daily Needs REIT has signaled 2% growth in funds from operations per security in FY 2026. This is underpinned by expectations of solid underlying growth in net operating income, strong leasing activity, and development completions, among other factors. "We believe there is potential upside to guidance given hedging of 81% at end-June reduces to 50% in July, positioning HomeCo Daily Needs REIT for a lower interest rate environment," Macquarie says. Australia's central bank cut interest rates to 3.60% this week, marking its third reduction so far this year. Economists expect additional cuts in coming months. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

0112 GMT - Ampol's A$1.1 billion deal to buy gas-station owner EG Australia pushes out the prospect of special dividends, but the trade-off seems sensible to Macquarie. Ampol will largely fund the transaction using A$800 million of cash and the issue of A$250 million of equity to the vendor. It means Ampol will transition from supplying fuels to the EG gas stations, to running the sites. "The EG opportunity, coupled with U-GO strategy, places Ampol back on a structural earnings growth trajectory (in non-refining)," Macquarie says. U-GO is Ampol's experiment with unmanned gas stations. Macquarie retains a neutral call on Ampol. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

0105 GMT - For Origin Energy, FY 2026 could be the peak year for capital expenditure. That's according to Macquarie, which highlights an emerging theme that Origin is becoming capital light. It says Origin is likely to continue to invest in batteries, but this is "likely to be off balance sheet." Origin intends to bring in a capital partner to fund most of the capex growth required to build the Yanco wind farm. Macquarie also notes that capex at Origin's Eraring coal-fired power plant has likely peaked, and should moderate as it heads toward closure in FY 2028. Macquarie retains a neutral call on Origin. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2321 GMT -- Jarden analysts Rohan Gallagher and Charles Strong will be looking for changes in how Australian betting company Tabcorp reports its result, suggesting Tabcorp would be better off splitting its wagering and media units and giving results for each business separately. The Tabcorp bulls say such a move would better showcase the consistent profitability of its non-wagering segments and also the opportunity inherent in its wagering operations, with the greater transparency possibly leading to a boost in the stock price. Tabcorp's FY result later this month will be the first full year under new management. "With still relatively low expectations, we look for earnings progress against its more realistic and accountable strategy," the Jarden analysts say in a note to clients. ([email protected])

2249 GMT -- The volume growth assumed by Cochlear's profit guidance looks conservative to its bulls at Jefferies. Analysts David Stanton and Vanessa Thomson tell clients in a note that the hearing-implant provider's guidance for a fiscal 2026 underlying net profit of between A$435 million and A$460 million is slightly short of consensus for A$461 million. However, they point out that the assumption of 10% volume growth looks conservative given the likely scale of the impact from the release of a new model. Jefferies has a last published buy rating and A$354.00 target price on the stock, which is at A$305.99 ahead of the open. ([email protected])

1853 ET - Orora gets a new bull in Jefferies, which cites the packaging company's solid FY 2025 results that contained encouraging 2H trends. Analyst Ramoun Lazar says Orora's Saverglass business appears to be turning a corner and taking market share. He notes that aggregate orders were up 20% in 2H, which should bolster confidence around volumes into 1H of FY 2026. "Encouragingly customer inventory of bottles are also at multi-year lows, down 20% from 2023 peaks," Jefferies says. It upgrades Orora to buy from hold. The bank raises its Ebit forecasts by 7% to 13% in FY 2026-2027, driven by Saverglass and the cans business. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1843 ET - Jefferies draws parallels to Ampol's acquisition of Z Energy when assessing the merits of its latest deal. Ampol said late yesterday it will buy gas-station owner EG Australia for A$1.1 billion. Analyst Michael Simotas recalls that there was some initial skepticism about Ampol's deal for Z Energy in 2021. That deal turned out to be a resounding success, in part due to Ampol's price discipline. "Proposed acquisition of EG Australia offers similarly strong strategic rationale, given substantial synergies, U-GO conversion opportunity, and potential to stem the volume drag on Fuels & Infrastructure," Jefferies says. U-GO is Ampol's experiment with unmanned gas stations, and Jefferies says Ampol is paying a sensible price to acquire EG Australia. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires