It has been another busy week for many of Australia's top brokers. This has led to the release of a number of broker notes.
Three broker buy ratings that you might want to know more about are summarised below. Here's why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone right now:
According to a note out of Bell Potter, its analysts have retained their buy rating on this gaming technology company's shares with a reduced price target of $194.00. This follows the release of a quarterly update which revealed revenue that was short of expectations. Bell Potter notes that its top line miss was driven by continued game economy issues in SciPlay and lower than expected fee per day in Gaming Operations. While this was disappointing, it was pleased to see that margin improvements offset the weaker revenue print and underpinned earnings in line with estimates. Looking ahead, the broker is confident on its outlook. This is because it expects Light & Wonder's cross-platform strategy and leading scale will produce a portfolio of high-performing games in both land-based and digital markets. The Light & Wonder share price is trading at $127.58 on Friday.
A note out of Citi reveals that its analysts have upgraded this gold miner's shares to a buy rating with a $22.00 price target. The broker highlights that Northern Star's shares have underperformed large cap peers this year. It blames this on management's decision to focus on M&A activities rather than letting the free cash flow and profits build up at a favourable point in the cycle. However, it feels that now could be the time for Northern Star's shares to start playing catch up on peers and deliver strong share price gains. The Northern Star share price is fetching $19.80 at the time of writing.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs have retained their buy rating on this commercial explosives company's shares with an improved price target of $22.10. According to the note, the broker was impressed with Orica's performance during the first half. It highlights that the company's earnings were comfortably ahead of expectations thanks to the core Blasting Solutions business. The broker also points out that the company is finally delivering earnings per share leverage, which has been absent in recent years as it deployed capital towards acquisitions. Overall, Goldman feels that its shares look cheap in the context of demonstrated operational momentum. As a result, it thinks there's still plenty of upside here for investors. The Orica share price is trading at $18.31 this afternoon.
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