0154 GMT - COG Financial is showing clear intent to aggressively increase its share of the novated-lease market, Morgans analyst Richard Coles says. He points out that financial-services firm's acquisition of an additional 14% stake in Fleet Network comes just a month after it completed the purchase of another salary packaging and novated-leasing business. This is clearly a growth area for the ASX-listed company, he writes in a note. There is scope for COG to further expand stakes in other partially owned businesses, he adds. Morgans lifts its target price 23% to A$2.63 and keeps an accumulate rating on the stock, which is up 3.0% at A$2.37. ([email protected])

0133 GMT - Australian Finance Group keeps its bull at Macquarie amid the lender's shift toward higher-margin products. A note by one of the investment bank's analysts points out that high-margin AFG securities lodgements, which were up 23% on the prior three-month period, represented 71% of all AFG's lodgements in the home-loan category. Lower funding costs, operating leverage, and the overall rise in lodgements to a quarterly record all help maintain the stock's outperform rating from Macquarie. Target price rises 3.5% to A$2.96. Shares are up 6.3% at A$2.54. ([email protected])

0052 GMT - Beach Energy's materially higher-than-expected 1Q sales revenue helps to offset poor news on its Hercules exploration well and the potential for slightly higher costs at the Waitsia Stage 2 project, RBC Capital Markets says. Beach's share price rises 4.1% to A$1.135 after reporting 1Q sales revenue of A$537 million, up 18% on three months earlier. The addition of two LNG cargoes from Waitsia boosted revenue. Still, Beach said its Hercules well had failed to find natural gas. RBC expects drilling the well to have cost Beach around A$50 million. Regarding Waitsia Stage 2, it appears to be on target for a late 1Q FY 2026 start. "But we think its timing could still slip slightly," analyst Gordon Ramsay says. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

0047 GMT - ANZ's targets mean it is aiming to do what no other Australian bank has been able to do for at least 20 years, Macquarie analysts warn. They tell clients in a note that CEO Nuno Matos's return and cost targets are bold and ambitious. To hit them, the analysts reckon that ANZ will need to materially outperform its peers on both costs and revenues, something that hasn't been achieved by any major Australian lender for more than two decades. They add that banks generally have a poor track record of achieving medium-term targets, with expenses, cost-to-income, and return-on-equity the least successful areas. Macquarie has an unchanged neutral rating and A$34.00 target price on the stock. Shares are up 0.1% at A$36.65. ([email protected])

0042 GMT - Citi analyst Thomas Strong doesn't think investors should get too excited over individual transactions at Macquarie such as its latest data-center divestment. Two Macquarie infrastructure funds and their co-investment partners are selling Aligned Data Centers for US$40 billion. Strong acknowledges that it is tempting to see transactions like this as additive to expectations, but he reckons that consensus forecasts are already too high and need to be met if the stock is to justify its multiple of 20X earnings. Citi has a last-published neutral rating and A$200.00 target price on the stock, which is down 0.2% at A$226.38. ([email protected])

0015 GMT - Zip's U.S. customer growth is the highlight of the Australian payment provider's September-quarter performance for E&P analyst Annabel Khun. She highlights the addition of more than 100,000 customers following recent investments in marketing. U.S. customer engagement is also growing, she tells clients in a note. Average transactions per U.S. customer for the first quarter of Zip's 2026 fiscal year were up 18% on-year, she observes. Overall, she thinks that the September-quarter performance beat consensus expectations and shows Zip has strong momentum as it heads into the key holiday trading season. E&P has a last-published positive recommendation and A$6.20 target price on the stock, which is up 4.3% at A$4.61. ([email protected])

0007 GMT - The September-quarter rise in Zip's bad debts don't appear to cause RBC analyst Jack Lynch any concerns. Zip's U.S. bad debts jumped to 1.52% of total transaction volume over the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year, up from 1.14% three months earlier. However, Lynch tells clients in a note that the September quarter is typically a challenging period for bad debts and thinks that Zip's U.S. business is performing strongly. He points to a 47% rise in total transaction volume and sees the company tracking at least in line with its margin targets. RBC has a last-published outperform rating and A$5.00 target price on the stock, which is up 4.4% at A$4.615. ([email protected])

2335 GMT - Zip's eight-installment payment product seems to be helping drive U.S. adoption but may also be hitting credit quality, Citi analyst Siraj Ahmed warns in a note. Ahmed tells clients that the product, which compares with Zip's standard pay-in-four offering, contributed to 47% on-year growth in U.S. total transaction volume over the September quarter. This was up from 45% three months earlier, he adds. U.S. volume growth and group cash earnings both beat Ahmed's forecasts. Unfortunately, bad debts were also higher than he had anticipated. He wonders whether this is due to general consumer stress, or the increased mix toward pay-in-eight. Citi has a last-published buy rating and A$4.50 target price on the stock, which is up 6.2% at A$4.695. ([email protected])

The newfound influence of state-backed iron-ore buyer China Mineral Resources Group "may have unintentionally reopened the strategic logic" for some cooperation between miners Rio Tinto and BHP in Australia's Pilbara, RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker says in a note. "Once unthinkable, now potentially pragmatic," Rio and BHP could consider a "narrowly structured and compliance-driven" alliance to protect their power in iron-ore supply negotiations, Peker says. CMRG, formed three years ago, today coordinates procurement for more than 85% of China's steel capacity. Peker reckons a "JV-light" approach focused on logistics, blending and decarbonization "could dilute the CMRG's influence, defend the Pilbara premium and maintain control over benchmark price formation." It could also have margin and capital expenditure benefits, he adds. ([email protected]; @RhiannonHoyle)

2150 GMT - Infratil's decision to invest more in Contact Energy could require it to sell more assets than originally planned, E&P says. Infratil today said it's acquiring TECT's 4.92% shareholding in Contact for NZ$437.7 million. Analyst Annabel Khun says the move is in line with Infratil's strategy of either scaling key assets to a substantial size or exiting over time. However, Infratil remains far off a target of selling assets worth NZ$1 billion, E&P says. Its portfolio also requires additional capex, especially its CDC data-centers business. "With deploying this capital Infratil will need to manage their remaining dry powder and look to sell additional assets or raise to finance portfolio cash needs," E&P says. Infratil is down 0.4% at NZ$12.38 today. Contact rises 0.3% to NZ$9.08. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2105 GMT - Stockland had its best quarter for residential sales since 2021. Citi thinks its 2Q will be even better. Stockland reported 2,117 residential sales in 1Q, improving from 1,848 in the final quarter of FY 2025. Analyst Suraj Nebhani points out that enquiry levels have bounced back strongly to 2022 highs, indicating a stronger outlook for the business. "We note that 1Q is typically weaker seasonally and we see further upside in 2Q off the back of the first home guarantee scheme starting on Oct. 1," Citi says. Stockland's strong start to FY 2026 means it's well placed to meet a target of settling 7,500-8,500 residential lots across the 12 months as a whole, says Citi, which rates Stockland a buy. It forecasts 8,290 settlements in FY 2026. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2054 GMT - Iluka's zircon price held up well during the September quarter, but Ord Minnett questions whether the mineral-sands miner should pause a key growth project. Analyst Matthew Hope says the Chinese market is weak right now, and one of Iluka's competitors has reduced its zircon price for China. So, Ord Minnett expects Iluka to follow suit. It forecasts lower prices from the December quarter. "We wonder if Iluka could feasibly delay the start-up of Balranald," says Ord Minnett. Commissioning of the Balranald mine in New South Wales, which aims to produce some 50,000 tons of zircon annually along with other mineral sands, is underway. Ord Minnett retains a sell call on Iluka. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires