0319 GMT - The pullback in Goodman shares over the past month offers a potential entry point to what its bulls at Citi call the Australian real-estate developer's attractive medium-term growth story. Citi analysts tell clients in a note that any fiscal 2025 earnings guidance issued at this month's fiscal 2024 results announcement will probably turn out to be conservative. They forecast 12% EPS growth in fiscal 2025 but acknowledge that Goodman has a track record of under-promising and over-delivering. Citi has a buy rating and A$40.00 target price on the stock, which is up 2.9% at A$33.04. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0302 GMT - Breathing-tech supplier ResMed's surprisingly strong 4Q gross profit margin moves its bull at Morgans to raise forecasts through fiscal 2026. Analyst Derek Jellinek lifts his profit margin forecasts for fiscal 2024 through fiscal 2026 by about 2.5%, pointing to the company's hopes for expansion on cost optimization, scale benefits and product mix. He maintains an add rating on the stock but tells clients in a note that his forecasts don't include ResMed's aspirations to leverage its data and the market's focus on weight-loss drugs to become a so-called sleep concierge. Morgans lifts its target price by 5.3% to A$35.93. Shares are up 1.0% at A$33.07. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0237 GMT - Brambles appears to be losing share of the U.S. pallet market as customers pick up whitewood alternatives at clearance prices, UBS analyst Andre Fromyhr says. He writes in a note that shortages are now a thing of the past, while Brambles-owned CHEP is prioritizing its core client base. Fromyhr doesn't think the pooler will lose any major contracts but sees potential for a soft fiscal 2025 revenue guidance. More positively, he sees free cash flow continuing to improve and thinks the market should be looking at that rather than volumes. Normalizing price growth could also allay concerns of price contraction in the next year, he says. UBS raises its target price by 0.6% to A$17.40 and keeps a buy rating on the stock, which is up 0.6% at A$14.625. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0203 GMT - Key areas to focus on in NAB and Westpac's 3Q FY 2024 upcoming trading updates include June quarter margin trends and commentary on competition for loans and deposits, says Morgan Stanley analysts in a note. They also recommend looking at business loan growth and watching for any signs of deterioration in credit quality and associated management commentary. MS expects NAB's 3Q pre-provision profit to fall 1% versus the 1H quarterly average to A$2.70 billion, but cash profit to increase 1% to A $1.80 billion. For Westpac, MS sees that, excluding notable items, 3Q pre-provision profit is likely to fall 1% versus the 1H quarterly average to A$2.70 billion and profit to be flat at A$1.76 billion. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

0201 GMT - Australian data-center operator NextDC is likely to announce more bookings before long, Citi analyst Siraj Ahmed reckons. He tells clients in a note that the increase in contract utilization since over the June half was lower than some traders had expected, but that industry feedback of strong demand and procurement activity in Melbourne leads him to expect further announcements in the near term. Ahmed sees potential for another record year of bookings in fiscal 2026. Citi has a buy rating and A$19.53 target price on the stock, which is up 0.7% at A$15.785. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0143 GMT - Treasury Wine Estates is unlikely to generate significant proceeds from the sale of its underperforming commercial brands, E&P analyst Phillip Kimber warns. He reckons that the market will see divestment of the low-margin assets as a positive but doesn't envisage Treasury receiving much more than A$100 million for them. He tells clients in a note that he is also concerned that Treasury could be landed with between A$20 million and $30 million in stranded costs from the divestment of brands including Wolf Blass and Blossom Hill, which equates to about 3% of his forecasted FY 2025 net profit. E&P has a positive rating and A$14.95 target price on the stock, which is up 1.4% at A$11.75. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0118 GMT - UBS is cautious on the outlook for miner IGO given lithium prices continue to be weighed by ample supplies, says analyst Levi Spry, trimming the bank's target on the stock to A$5.70 from A$6.10. A neutral rating is retained. The wind-down of IGO's nickel business and upcoming strategy reset also give reasons for caution, Spry says. "With only [circa] two years to run at Nova, FY25 guidance disappointed and expectations around the quantum of free cashflow from this mine (circa A$250 million over FY25-26) continue to reduce and be eaten away by closure" and care-and-maintenance costs elsewhere, says Spry. IGO is up 1.6% at A$5.11, paring Monday's 5.6% loss. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

2345 GMT - Cleanaway Waste Management's target of A$500 million Ebit in FY 2026 now looks realistic to UBS, which upgrades the stock to buy from neutral. Analyst Lee Power says Australia's jobs market has largely returned to normal, with wages growth in the low single digits and Cleanaway's job ads back at pre-pandemic levels. "Labor force data, once a headwind to operational efficiency targets, has stabilized enough to allow Cleanaway to focus on achieving additional productivity improvement," UBS says. Also, its analysis of similar programs implemented by Cleanaway's rivals suggests the Ebit boost from this strategy is likely to be at the upper end of a A$50 million-A$100 million range outlined by management. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2342 GMT - Despite Australian banks seeing a modest de-rating over recent days, risks are still almost exclusively to the downside, say Citi analysts Brendan Sproules and Thomas Strong in a note. Heightened fears of U.S.-led recession have led to a blunt selloff in the Australian banks, but over the longer term a continued re-rating of the Australian banks over the course of the year to around 16 times price-earnings has been starkly at odds with the fundamentals, says Citi. Despite the recent de-rating, Citi keeps its sell call, and demotes ANZ to its least preferred due to its adverse exposure to U.S. rate cuts. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2321 GMT - Jefferies doesn't expect Ramsay Health Care to generate very strong Ebit growth in Australia in FY25, which is what consensus forecasts suggest. "Industry feedback continues to be that procedural volumes are subdued compared to pre-Covid levels," analyst David Stanton says. "We believe this is due to accelerated out-of-pocket price increases for proceduralists in the past couple of years, with limited elasticity of demand being experienced by these doctors." Consequently, proceduralists haven't had to increase volumes to the same extent to keep up with cost-of-living increases, and so sessions are not as full as pre-Covid, he says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2320 GMT - Woodside's second big deal in almost as many weeks has Goldman Sachs speculating about the dividend impact. Woodside is buying an ammonia plant in Texas from OCI Global for $2.35 billion, while also seeking to complete the $900 million acquisition of Tellurian. Analyst Henry Meyer says Woodside's free cash flow could fall to $200 million this year and $100 million in 2025, citing assumptions including a $70/bbl Brent oil price. Woodside's balance sheet can support investment in Tellurian's Driftwood LNG project, the clean ammonia development, and ongoing upstream capex, Goldman says. Still, "we see potential downside risk to dividends at the top end of policy (50-80% of net profit) if the company were to manage gearing near the top end of the target 10-20% range," Goldman adds. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2319 GMT - While Ramsay Health Care's preliminary FY24 result suggests activity levels have held up, Wilsons worries that pre-pandemic profitability levels may be unachievable. Subdued investment was the devil in the detail of Ramsay's update. FY24 capex of around A$740 million fell short of A$800 million-A$1.0 billion guidance, driven by an unexpectedly low level of spending in Australia. Analyst Shane Storey says this is revealing about Ramsay's confidence in the outlook. "Although a modest miss in the FY 2024 context, the margin assumptions underpinning our 2H estimates were starting to bridge toward FY 2025-2027 margin expansion stories, across all jurisdictions," Wilsons says. "We felt that was only achievable if brownfield returns could recapture their former greatness." (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2116 GMT - Woodside Energy's around $2.35 billion deal to buy an ammonia plant under construction in Texas from OCI Global surprises Citi with its timing. "Our issue is the acquisition seems the wrong point in the cycle," analyst James Byrne says. Woodside has said it aims to invest $5 billion by 2030 in energy markets that are emerging as countries seek to reduce their carbon emissions. Citi says the market expected this money being spent closer to 2030. "Woodside has a long-dated rationale, so there was no time pressure," Citi says. "Who's to say another good asset won't come along over the next half-decade, potentially during a bear market too?" (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires