0047 GMT - Web Travel's smaller scale and pressure on global take rates are the obstacles to Morgan Stanley analysts becoming more positive on the stock. The MS analysts raise their recommendation to equal-weight from underweight following a recent derating, but are cautious given that the Australian travel agency is only the No.3 global player in hotel wholesaling. It also has the lowest proportion of directly contracted inventory, they tell clients in a note. They add that Web Travel's earnings power may be constrained by lower take rates seen recently among its peers. MS raises its target price by 10% to A$4.40. Shares are up by 7.0% at A$4.675. ([email protected])

0001 GMT - Web Travel's bulls at UBS reckon that the stock deserves a material rerate if the Australian travel agency can continue to materially outperform the market while maintaining margins. Keeping a buy rating on the stock, analysts Tim Plumbe and Evan Karatzas tell clients in a note that the ASX-listed company is expanding into new markets and customers without sacrificing the proportion of total transaction value it is taking as revenue. The pair reckons that Web Travel can hit the top end of its fiscal 2026 earnings guidance range if total transaction value keeps growing at its current pace. A seasonally assisted 6.6% revenue margin is not out of the question, they add. UBS lifts its target price by 7.0% to A$6.15. Shares are up 8.1% at A$4.725. ([email protected])

2250 GMT - Temple & Webster's bull at Citi is surprised by the magnitude of the sales slowdown at the online furniture retailer. Analyst Sam Teeger expected better given recent updates from local rivals Nick Scali and Adairs-owned Mocka. He tells clients in a note that Temple & Webster sales should be benefiting from the company's expansion into New Zealand and the ramp-up of operations in Western Australia state. He is worried that the departure of key marketing personnel may have been a factor in the underperformance. Citi has a last-published buy rating and A$34.32 price target on the stock, which is at A$20.44 ahead of the open. ([email protected])

2241 GMT - Web Travel's bull at Citi warns that the Australian travel agency's 1H beat may simply reflect a pull-forward of demand from its fiscal second half. Analyst Samuel Seow tells clients in a note that provision releases and a flatter margin profile suggests that Web Travel is tracking in-line with consensus for the full fiscal year, despite beating 1H Ebitda expectations by about 5%. Nonetheless, he says that a stable revenue margin and the geographic diversification of Web Travel's income should build confidence. Seow thinks the stock deserves a rerate based on Web Travel's profit growth. Citi lifts its target price 1.8% to A$5.60 and keeps a buy/high risk rating on the stock. Shares are at A$4.37 ahead of the open. ([email protected])

2239 GMT - Vault Minerals's decision to settle early all of its forward gold sales contracts for 2H should accelerate its transition to a mostly unhedged production profile by some six months, Macquarie says. Vault is delivering 47,319 oz of gold at an average price of A$2,797/oz. "The early closure drives a 10% (A$170 million) improvement in revenue on our price deck (of US$6,370/oz average over 2H FY26), offset by the A$173 million in hedge closure costs," Macquarie says. It has an outperform call on Vault. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2226 GMT - Temple & Webster's sales are falling short of consensus expectations for the December half and could deteriorate further before the end of the calendar year, RBC Capital Markets analyst Wei-Weng Chen warns. He writes in a note that the online furniture retailer's July 1-Nov. 20 sales growth of 18% lags the average analyst forecast of 23% for the December half. Chen tells clients that December is typically a quieter sales month for Temple & Webster, which means there is risk of a further slowdown. More positively, he adds that the company has built its cash position by more than 4% since the end of its 2025 fiscal year. RBC has a last-published sector-perform rating and A$26.00 target price on the stock, which is at A$20.44 ahead of the open. ([email protected])

2214 GMT - Citi analyst Laura Sutcliffe remains cautious on Ramsay Health Care despite the private-hospital operator's stronger-than-expected 1Q revenue and earnings. She points out in a note to clients that the Australian company's September-quarter performance is influenced by hospitalizations from the country's flu season. Sutcliffe raises her full-year Australia Ebit margin to 9.3% to 8.8%, but declines to fully translate the 1Q beat across the whole of fiscal 2026. Investors would like to see Ramsay give explicit margin targets, she adds. Citi lifts its target price 9.1% to A$36.00 and keeps a neutral rating on the stock. Shares are at A$35.95 ahead of the open. ([email protected])

2205 GMT - Jefferies's looks to the experience of CBA and Westpac when assessing how concerns of potential money-laundering through one of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's branches could impact the lender's share price. Analyst Andrew Lyons highlights that CBA and Westpac's share price fell by 10%-30% within the first four months of their own announcements of potential breaches to money-laundering laws. Those stock declines reflect the hit to their earnings. "However, valuations were partially insulated by more modest moves in multiples, suggesting the market was willing to partially look through these," Jefferies says. It introduces a 10% discount to its valuation of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Its price target falls to A$9.53/share, from A$10.59, and it retains an underperform call. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank ended Tuesday at A$10.19. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2147 GMT - Power supply outages in Western Australia extend Lynas's rotten luck with its Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing Facility in Western Australia, notes Ord Minnett. Labor costs are high, local acid supply is scarce, power prices are expensive, and the grid is unreliable. "It is hard for Lynas to reduce costs in these circumstances," analyst Matthew Hope says. Following Lynas's assessment that the outages could result in a shortfall of one month's production, Ord Minnett cuts a forecast for 2Q output of neodymium-praseodymium by 500 tons to 1,200 tons. Sales are likely to be 200 tons higher due to Lynas managing stockpiles. "Overall, we estimate the impact to free cash flow to be a A$30 million reduction to A$17 million in December quarter," Ord Minnett says. It retains a sell call on Lynas.([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2138 GMT - Lynas Rare Earths's 2Q production could fall by 1/3 after power supply to Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing Facility in Western Australia was disrupted, UBS says. Some of that loss could be recovered in 2H and by Lynas managing inventory sales. Still, analyst Dim Ariyasinghe cuts a forecast for FY 2026 production of neodymium-praseodymium by 6% to 8,500 tons. That drives a 17% hit to Lynas's EPS and results in UBS lowering its price target by 1% to A$17.70/share. It retains a buy call on Lynas, which ended Tuesday at A$15.02. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2131 GMT - Medical device maker Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's share price rises 4.8% to erase all of this month's losses as investors cheer an upgrade to its annual profit guidance. F&P Healthcare now expects FY 2026 net profit to total NZ$410 million-NZ$460 million, up from an earlier projection for NZ$390 million-A$440 million. It also signaled higher annual revenue of NZ$2.17 billion-NZ$2.27 billion. Jefferies analyst Vanessa Thomson says ongoing clinical changes, new products and business efficiencies drove the upgrade. Jefferies rates F&P Healthcare a buy, with a NZ$44.40/share price target. F&P Healthcare rose to NZ$38.45 in the first half hour of Wednesday's trading. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires