0156 GMT - Australia's federal budget appears to be a double-edged sword for Stockland and Mirvac. A change to negative gearing rules doesn't cover new-build dwellings, which are a key business of Mirvac and Stockland. However, Morgan Stanley says changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax could sour sentiment toward the property market more broadly, including by lowering selling prices. This could end up hurting developers even if volumes hold up. "Theory aside, a decline in resi prices (as expected by the budget) could at least slow down transactions over the next 3-12 months, affecting the outlook for FY27/28," analyst Lauren A. Berry says. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

0138 GMT - Healius's share price drops 22% to an all-time low of A$0.38 after the Australian healthcare company warned on profits. Healius now expects underlying Ebitda of A$259 million-A$264 million in FY 2026. That's well below RBC's A$277 million forecast ahead of today's update. Analyst Craig Wong-Pan says the update implies Healius's pathology volumes deteriorated from 1.2% growth in 1H to a 2.8% decline in the four months through April, while pathology revenue growth fell to 0.7% in 2H so far, from 3.5% in 1H. "We believe Healius has lost share in the 2H period given Medicare pathology volume and benefits paid growth for the three months to March were 1.9% and 1.6% respectively," RBC says. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

0038 GMT - Life360's bull at Macquarie reiterates an outperform rating on the stock, telling clients that they see upside to the location-app provider's subscription revenue guidance. A note from one of the investment bank's analysts observes that March-quarter subscription revenue was strong despite softness in volume growth caused by a technical issue that made it hard for some Android device users to sign up. This headwind was resolved last month, which the analyst reckons should assist subscription volume growth through the remainder of 2026. On top of this, the analyst points out that existing customers of Life360's ad platform Nativo are looking to increase spending. Macquarie lifts its target price on Life360's Australia-listed stock by 2.8% to A$32.20. Shares are up 2.4% at A$18.35. ([email protected])

0022 GMT - Xero's bull at Macquarie is looking for two things in particular at the accounting-software provider's annual result. U.S. subscriber growth is a key issue, with a note from one of the investment bank's analysts pointing out that Xero's U.S. offering is 80% cheaper than the equivalent from rival Intuit. The analyst says that industry feedback suggests Xero is gaining traction among accountant and bookkeeper partners. Then there is AI monetization. The Macquarie analysts wants some information on how much value Xero's AI capabilities are generating for subscribers. "Agentic products can and will drive value capture," the analyst writes. Macquarie trims its target price 4.4% to A$223.60 and keeps an outperform rating on the stock, which is up 0.3% at A$80.39. ([email protected])

0006 GMT - Temple & Webster's bull at RBC says the Australian furniture retailer's latest update looks very soft. Analyst Wei-Weng Chen tells clients in a note that the midpoint of the online retailer's 665 million Australian dollars to A$675 million annual revenue guidance is about 6% short of the A$714.8 million consensus forecast. He says that Ebitda guidance misses by even more, with the midpoint of the company's range about 30% below consensus. Chen says he finds it hard to believe that Temple & Webster can achieve both its short-term profitability target and medium-term revenue target. RBC has a last-published outperform rating and a target price of A$10.00 on the stock, which is currently down 9.8% at A$4.80. ([email protected])

2327 GMT - Australian government changes to R&D taxation look positive for locally listed medical manufacturers, RBC Capital Markets analyst Craig Wong-Pan says. The government is increasing the amount of R&D expenditure that companies can claim as a tax offset, while also lifting R&D disbursements paid out from the sovereign Medical Research Future Fund. Wong-Pan thinks this looks like good news for pharmaceutical manufacturer CSL, breath-tech maker ResMed, hearing-implant developer Cochlear and infection-prevention company Nanosonics. From July 2028, the tax offset for experimental core R&D will rise to 50%. ([email protected])

2313 GMT - WiseTech Global's bull at Jefferies reckons it will be about six years before global freight forwarder DSV can stop using the Australian company's CargoWise platform. The Danish company says it plans to bring its transport management in-house, but analyst Roger Samuel says it first needs to upgrade its operations. He tells clients in a note that this could take two years, with another four needed to transition users. Samuel estimates that DSV contributes about 9% of WiseTech's revenue, and about 10% of its Ebitda. Pressure on WiseTech's share price is likely, Samuel adds. Jefferies has a last-published buy rating and A$72.00 target price on the stock, which is at A$39.80 ahead of the open. ([email protected])

2300 GMT - Poultry producer Inghams held its FY 2026 earnings guidance steady, despite the pain of rising fuel costs. That's a strong outcome, Bell Potter says. It implies Inghams had been operating at the upper band of its underlying Ebitda range of A$180 million-A$200 million prior to the Middle East conflict. Analyst Jonathan Snape highlights strong 3Q volumes and progress toward some A$60 million-A$80 million of cost savings. "The business is yet to see any material disruption to channel exposures, which is a clear point of interest in 4Q with a weakening consumer," Bell Potter says. It retains a hold call on Inghams, and raises its price target by 5% to A$2.10/share. Inghams ended Tuesday at A$1.955. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2251 GMT -- Australia's federal budget looks to be negative for consumption, says Jefferies. One positive was modest tax relief. However, changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax are likely to weigh on the wealth effect from house values, analyst Michael Simotas says. He points out that baby boomers, who have typically exhibited strong demand, are disproportionately affected. "A potential slowdown in housing turnover due to less investment in existing houses would also be negative for housing-exposed stocks including JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Nick Scali, Metcash and Wesfarmers," Jefferies says. Still, it may encourage construction of new homes or completed projects, which have lagged approvals for some time. That could be an offsetting tailwind for Wesfarmers and Metcash, Jefferies says. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires