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

2017 ET - REA shares are unlikely to rerate while CoStar's takeover of rival Domain threatens to increase competition in Australian real-estate advertising, according to a Macquarie analyst note. With shares in News Corp-controlled REA already trading at 49 times earnings, the note says that there is little to justify anything more positive than the investment bank's current neutral rating on the stock. Domain's likely future under CoStar is still unclear, but the note suggests that increased investment by the U.S. company is a possibility. Macquarie trims its target price on REA by 1.9% to A$265.00. Shares are up 0.1% at A$245.11. News Corp owns Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.(stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2011 ET - Naver is set to get an earnings boost from faster-than-expected improvement in the profitability of its subsidiaries, Daiwa Capital analysts Thomas Y. Kwon and Joon Lee write in a note. They raise their 2025 EPS estimate for the South Korean internet-platform giant by 5.8%. They expect Naver to drive strong earnings growth from 2Q by integrating AI features into its core platforms, monetizing its commerce and fintech user base, and expanding its business-to-business market shares in Korea and overseas. However, they lower their 2026 EPS estimate by 1.8%. Daiwa trims its target price on the stock by 2.4% to KRW279,000 and keeps a buy rating. Shares are 1.0% higher at KRW192,900. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

1946 ET - Japanese stocks may rise as hopes grow that U.S. and China trade relations will improve. U.S. and Chinese officials emerged from trade talks over the weekend sounding a positive note, though they offered few specifics. Nikkei futures are up 0.8% at 37820 on the SGX. USD/JPY is at 145.73, compared with 145.44 as of Friday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on any details of U.S.-China talks as well as domestic earnings. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.6% to 37503.33 on Friday. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com)

1938 ET - Aristocrat Leisure has significant balance sheet capacity for M&A amid speculation it could be lining up a deal in the U.S., says Morgan Stanley. Aristocrat had net debt of A$1.14 billion at the end of FY 2024. Its net debt-to-Ebitda ratio of 0.4x was well below a target range of 1.0-2.0x. Analyst Melinda K. Baxter notes that Aristocrat received US$600 million in proceeds from the sale of its Plarium business, of which US$250 million will be used to repay some debt. "Based on Aristocrat's target net debt range and inclusive of the additional US$600 million in proceeds, Aristocrat has debt headroom of A$3.5 billion-A$6.0 billion," MS says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1929 ET - Xero's bull at Macquarie expects the cloud-accounting software provider to reinvest for growth in fiscal 2026. A note from one of the investment bank's analysts tells clients that they expect the reinvestment to be outlined with guidance provided at this week's annual result. They say that they can already see 140 job ads for roles with the company. They have high conviction in Xero's growth story beyond the next 12 months, and think it is likely to improve traction in the U.S. thanks to changes in product, strategy and management. Macquarie has an outperform rating and A$191.90 target price on the stock, which is at A$172.41 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1920 ET - Zip loses a bull at Jefferies on worries that the Australian buy-now-pay-later operator will struggle to grow U.S. user numbers as quickly as analysts forecast. Jefferies analyst Wei Sim lowers his recommendation on the stock to hold, from buy, pointing to weakness in customer retention indicated by the investment bank's survey of U.S. consumers. He tells clients in a note that Zip had the weakest retention outlook of all BNPL services, with new-user intention also below average. He thinks that an average analyst expectation for 28% growth in U.S. users through fiscal 2027 is too high. Jefferies cuts its target price by 51% to A$1.80/share. Shares are at A$1.865 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1901 ET - Australia's real-estate sector could benefit from the disruption to global capital flows caused by trade uncertainty. "Strong underlying economic fundamentals, a global underweight position to the REIT sector and a weaker Australian dollar are likely to see a re-direction of capital into Australia," says Macquarie. Already, optimism in capital markets is shown by multiple groups looking to raise into new and existing funds. They include Charter Hall raising for a new convenience retail fund, Mirvac raising for its Wholesale Office Fund and HMC Capital in advanced talks to launch an Urban Retail Fund.(david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1844 ET - Centaurus Metals's Jaguar nickel project in Brazil will attract interest from investors, but funding hurdles remain, reckons Barrenjoey. "The challenge for Centaurus management will be demonstrating the project has economic returns that meet an investor's hurdle rate at current prices," analyst Richard Knights says. Assuming a $7.00/lb nickel price results in a $104 million net present value and a 17% internal rate of return, Barrenjoey says. While that's palatable to investors, the capex-to-net present value ratio is relatively high and that will be a meaningful hurdle to overcome, the bank says. "In our view, the most likely investor at this stage would be a smelting operation that benefits from the high grade concentrate unlocking other, cheaper, lower grade nickel units," Barrenjoey says. It rates Centaurus at overweight. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1839 ET - Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is on track to edge higher at the open as investors wait on economic data expected to further support rate cuts by the Reserve Bank. ASX futures are up by 0.2% despite a weak lead by U.S. equities, suggesting the benchmark index could bounce from its first weekly decline since early April. Official lending, wage and labor data are all set for release this week, with economists already expecting the central bank to cut the cash rate this month. Ahead of the open, telecoms provider Telstra announced a new boss for its InfraCo unit. Explosives maker Dyno Nobel said it had swung to a 1H profit. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1833 ET - Domain's $1.9 billion takeover by CoStar could create a short-term overhang on REA Group shares, given the risk of more intense competition in property listings, says Jefferies. Still, analyst Roger Samuel still thinks REA's dominance is unlikely to be disrupted. "As it is pushing Audience Maximiser, which targets buyers across numerous sites online, it would further entrench REA's Number 1 position," Jefferies says. The bank retains a hold call on REA following its 3Q update, while its price target drops by 0.8% to A$246.10/share. REA ended last week at A$244.97. REA is controlled by News Corp, which owns Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2025 20:17 ET (00:17 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.