The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1732 ET - Beach Energy is downgraded to sell, from neutral, by UBS because its rising cash flow isn't likely to head the way of shareholders for some time. "We do not expect shareholders to see a material lift in dividends/total return over the next 12-24 months," says analyst Tom Allen. That's because Beach is likely to prioritize investment in growth via M&A and exploration, UBS says. Beach's A$0.01/share interim dividend missed consensus expectations. "We believe Beach screens as expensive on a relative basis, trading at an implied oil price of US$76/bbl versus Santos (most preferred) and Woodside Energy at US$63/bbl & US$73/bbl, respectively," UBS says. Its price target falls 8.7% to A$1.05/share. Beach ended Thursday at A$1.20. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1729 ET - Australian stocks look set to drop in early trade after U.S. equities lost more ground and metals prices dropped. ASX futures are down by 1.1% ahead of Friday's open, suggesting that the S&P/ASX 200 will give back the last of the gains it compiled midweek. The benchmark index is coming off a 0.4% fall, having risen 1.7% across Tuesday and Wednesday. U.S. stocks fell after reports on job openings, unemployment insurance and job cuts stoked fears about the health of the economy. The DJIA slid 1.2%, the S&P 500 fell 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.6%. Ahead of the ASX open, real-estate advertiser REA announced a A$200 million share buyback. Rio Tinto shares will likely react to the miner's announcement that it is no longer in merger talks with Glencore. Its U.S. stock fell 5.6%. ([email protected])

1659 ET - While it is possible that Rio Tinto and Glencore revisit merger talks again in the future, "that is not our base case," Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina says in a note. "Rio likely goes it alone," he says. LaFemina expects the miner to refocus on the strategy it outlined at an investor briefing in December, targeting cost cutting and asset sales. "The question then is what is Glencore's plan B?" he says. "Coal de-merger? Have discussions with another possible merger partner? Focus inward on its own copper portfolio?" LaFemina reckons there are ways for Glencore to unlock shareholder value, but notes that a takeover by Rio Tinto "would have been the simplest and most elegant path." ([email protected]; @RhiannonHoyle)

1642 ET - Amazon expects its capital expenditures to be $200 billion in 2026, setting the sky-high benchmark for AI spending even higher. Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the capital expenditure plans address strong demand for Amazon's existing offerings and "seminal opportunities," such as AI, chips, robotics and low earth orbit satellites. The forecast tops the capex forecasts of other Magnificent 7 companies, whose 12-figure spending projections have raised questions about whether AI's return on investment will bring enough bang for their billions of bucks. Jassy said Amazon's leaders "anticipate strong long-term return on invested capital." Shares fall 9% after hours. ([email protected])

1622 ET - The difficulties laid bare by Synlait Milk in its 1H update were far worse than Forsyth Barr anticipated. Synlait said its 1H underlying Ebtida would be between breakeven and NZ$5 million. It's on track for a statutory net loss of up to NZ$82 million. Synlait pointed to ongoing costs and operational impacts from manufacturing challenges at its Dunsandel plant and lower relative returns from its ingredients portfolio. A lack of detail from Synlait provides little confidence in how these issues will be resolved, says analyst Matt Montgomerie. "While valuation support is evident (share price implied Dunsandel valuation of NZ$190 million versus replacement cost of likely more than NZ$1 billion and asset value of NZ$500 million), confidence in the equity story remains challenging," Forsyth Barr says. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1610 ET - Jefferies pushes back the timing of first revenues from Neuren Pharmaceuticals's trofinetide treatment for Rett Syndrome in the European Union following a setback in getting approval. Neuren says its partner, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, was recently informed by a key committee of the European Medicines Agency of a negative trend vote on its Marketing Authorization Application for trofinetide. Analyst David Stanton says this was likely due to concerns about the effect size of the confirmatory trial. "As a result of this news, and to be conservative, we now assume royalties from EU sales of trofinetide at start 4Q FY26," Jefferies says. That's six months later than its prior forecast. Jefferies cuts its FY 2026 net profit forecast for Neuren by 17% to A$48.1 million, from A$58.2 million. It retains a buy call on the stock. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1610 ET - Jefferies pushes back the timing of first revenues from Neuren Pharmaceuticals's trofinetide treatment for Rett Syndrome in the European Union following a setback in getting approval. Neuren says its partner, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, was recently informed by a key committee of the European Medicines Agency of a negative trend vote on its Marketing Authorization Application for trofinetide. Analyst David Stanton says this was likely due to concerns about the effect size of the confirmatory trial. "As a result of this news, and to be conservative, we now assume royalties from EU sales of trofinetide at start 4Q FY26," Jefferies says. That's six months later than its prior forecast. Jefferies cuts its FY 2026 net profit forecast for Neuren by 17% to A$48.1 million, from A$58.2 million. It retains a buy call on the stock. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1609 ET - Maas Group's decision to sell its construction materials division to Heidelberg for A$1.70 billion surprises Jefferies, who says it increases the company's risk profile. Still, a strategic pivot toward higher-growth infrastructure projects has merit. "The demand tailwinds for the electrification sector, with Maas's expertise and the material shortages for skilled electrical contractors/trades, position them well to capitalize," analyst John Campbell says. The deal with Heidelberg will leave Maas with around A$650 million of net cash. That could drive EPS higher over the long term. Jefferies retains a buy call and A$5.25/share price target on Maas. It hasn't updated forecasts as it waits for relevant approvals of the deal with Heidelberg. Maas ended Thursday at A$4.11. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1605 ET - Ongoing weakness in technology shares pairs with renewed worries over the labor market to send major stock indexes broadly lower. Qualcomm loses 8.5% on a weak forecast, while Google's parent Alphabet declines after saying it could make up to $185 billion of AI-linked capital investments this year. Amazon drops 4% ahead of its earnings report. Fresh data show unexpectedly low job openings in December, higher-than-expected initial jobless claims and the worst January for planned corporate job cuts since 2009. DJIA falls 592 points, or 1.2%, to 48908, the S&P 500 slips 1.2% to 6798 and the Nasdaq drops 1.6% to 22540. ([email protected])

1501 ET - Glencore says it is moving on after Rio Tinto abandoned plans for a mega-merger with its fellow metals heavyweight. Given that this is the second time a combination attempt between the mining companies has fallen through, Quilter Cheviot analyst Maurizio Carulli doesn't see any more attempts in the foreseeable future. Carulli says another player, such as BHP, could consider a bid for Glencore. Glencore could also look to close smaller deals within its operations, Carulli says, with a possible IPO of its Australian coal assets and partnership deals for some of its individual assets. Carulli says this would be similar to the minority stake sale announced earlier this week for its two copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Glencore ADRs are down 6%. ([email protected])

1304 ET - Snap had a decline in daily active users in its fourth quarter, raising concerns among analysts that the company's advertising strategy is eroding its user base. Daily active users in North America lost 3.3 million users quarter over quarter, which is the steepest sequential drop on record, Benchmark analysts say. The analysts think it will take some time to calibrate Snap's new strategy, which involves increasing sponsored Snaps, to avoid further slides in daily active users. Fourth-quarter revenue was primarily driven by direct-response advertising and ads from small and medium-sized businesses, while larger customers in the U.S. remained a weak point, the analysts say. Shares fall 9.1%. ([email protected])

1225 ET - Regulators are watching closely to see how practical Australia's decision to ban minors from using social media is, EU justice commissioner Michael McGrath says. His comments also come after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday that the country would ban social-media access for minors under the age of 16. "We will be seeing how first of all how operable that is, what the effect of that is, and I think in truth there are different views within the European Union on a hard measure like that," he says at a Forum Europa event in Brussels. "We also know how innovative children and teenagers can be and they'll find a way of getting online so we have to take all of that into account." ([email protected])

(END) Dow Jones Newswires