0112 GMT - Commonwealth Bank's bear at Morgans downgrades his revenue forecasts after a disappointing fiscal 1Q from Australia's largest bank. Analyst Nathan Lead tells clients that September-quarter revenue growth was outpaced by cost growth and loan impairment charges. He points out in a note that profit growth of 1% relative to the average of the prior two quarters was lower than the 1.7% benefit bequeathed by the period's 1.5 extra days. Lead keeps a sell rating on the stock and recommends investors aggressively reduce any overweight positions on risks stemming from what he sees as an overvalued share price and the outlook for earnings and dividends. Morgans cuts its target price 4.7% to A$96.07. Shares are down 1.3% at A$161.33. ([email protected])

0058 GMT - Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's uncertain earnings outlook and elevated earnings multiple draws out new bears at Morgan Stanley. Lowering their recommendation on the regional Australian lender to underweight from equal-weight, MS analysts tell clients in a note that loan growth looks weak. They are happy that the bank has become more disciplined on lending margins, but think it will probably begin to drift lower again. They reckon that cost growth still looks hard to control and it is going to take longer for investor confidence in the outlook to be restored. MS cuts its target price 5.7% to A$10.00. Shares are down 2.4% at A$11.36. ([email protected])

0028 GMT - Life360's bull at Jefferies reckons that the tracking-app developer's advertising revenue outlook will more than double with the acquisition of Nativo. Analyst Wei Sim tells clients that the revenue boost will be offset by lower gross-profit margins, but nonetheless says the acquisition has accelerated Life360's advertising ambitions. Keeping a buy recommendation on the stock, Sim adds that sales momentum from Life360's new pet tracker product looks strong and that promotional hardware prices should drive higher-tier subscriptions. Jefferies raises its target price by 6.0% to A$53.00. Shares are down 9.4% at A$41.50. ([email protected])

0004 GMT - Megaport lures a new bull at Jefferies following its expansion into another high-growth market. Jefferies analyst Roger Samuel raises his recommendation on the stock to buy from hold, telling clients in a note that he likes the Australian connectivity services provider's acquisition of Latitude.sh. He reckons that exposure to the compute-as-a-service market should bolster Megaport's growth profile and generate cross-selling opportunities to both companies' customer bases. Including the acquisition, Samuel estimates that Megaport is trading at an attractive 6.6 times fiscal 2027 sales and 20 times Ebitda. Jefferies lifts the stock's target price by 33% to A$20.00. Shares are down 2.7% at A$14.895. ([email protected])

2323 GMT -- Commonwealth Bank's bears at Macquarie say its valuation is hard to justify even after the share-price overreaction to the lender's 1Q earnings miss. Macquarie's analysts point out that the miss was driven by remediation costs and tell clients in a note that underlying trends appeared reasonable. Underlying margins look to be in line with Macquarie's expectations and credit quality metrics improved, they add. However, they reckon that its margin outlook is murky and think cracks are appearing in its longstanding advantage in deposits. Macquarie keeps an underperform rating and A$106.00 target price on the stock, which is down 0.8% at A$162.12. ([email protected])

0352 GMT - Commonwealth Bank of Australia's rising costs and CET1 capital decline raise question marks for the lender's bears at UBS. The investment bank's analysts acknowledge that quarterly results have historically been unpredictable and caution against drawing too many conclusions from Commonwealth's September-quarter update, which included unaudited figures. However, they tell clients in a note that a 6.1% on-quarter jump in operating costs and the decline in CET1 capital are surprising. They point out that Commonwealth shares have outperformed those of NAB and Westpac over the past month, suggesting that investors may have expected a better result. UBS has a last-published sell rating and A$125.00 target price on the stock, which is down 6.2% at A$164.02. ([email protected])

(END) Dow Jones Newswires