0104 GMT - While Macquarie's earnings outlook is improving, short-term consensus forecasts remain too high, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. They lift their fiscal 2026 net profit forecast by 2.5% and now anticipate 8% on-year growth, but tell clients in a note that they see this skewed toward the second half. They forecast 6% on-year profit growth for the Australian financial giant's fiscal first half, warning that the average analyst forecast of 20% growth looks much too high. More broadly, they think that the recent recovery in capital markets is supportive and expect global M&A activity to recover 10% in 2025. MS raises its target price 8.5% to A$216.00 and maintains an equal-weight rating. Shares are down 1.2% at A$226.26. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 02, 2025 21:04 ET (01:04 GMT)

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