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

0222 GMT - South32 is being pinched by rising costs and that loses it a bull in Macquarie. Increases to costs at its Cannington mine in Australia and South African Manganese operation have all but eroded value for those assets, Macquarie says. Similar increases in Sierra Gorda mining costs have driven a 25% reduction to its net asset value. There are few catalysts for the stock in the near term, says Macquarie. South32's Hermosa development in the U.S.--where the company is building a $2.16 billion zinc, lead and silver mine called Taylor--is some two years away. "Action is required to either rectify the portfolio imbalance, reduce costs or outline a pathway back for the troubled assets," Macquarie says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

0206 GMT - Port of Tauranga gets a new bull in Forsyth Barr, which says it is more confident in the company's earnings momentum following its FY 2025 result. Analyst Andy Bowley raises Port of Tauranga to outperform from neutral, noting that FY 2025 underlying profit of NZ$126 million was above the top end of the company's guidance range. The profit growth was driven by pricing gains and robust cargo growth. "Strong earnings growth is likely to be sustained over the medium term as Port of Tauranga continues to close the gap on its 7% return on invested capital $(ROIC)$ target--currently 5.3% on its operational assets," Forsyth Barr says. Port of Tauranga is up 1.6% at NZ$7.17. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

0143 GMT - Any confidence at Morgans that Bank of Queensland's earnings could positively surprise has been dented by the lender's removal of its fiscal 2026 return-on-equity target. Analyst Nathan Lead lowers his fiscal 2026 cash earnings forecast to factor in lower revenue growth and further restructuring costs. He tells clients in a note that the removal of the target increases uncertainty and downside risk, offsetting what he sees as an attractive dividend. Bank of Queensland continues to operate at a disadvantage on scale, funding costs, and technology compared with Australia's major banks, Lead warns. Morgans lowers its target price by 6.0% to A$6.62 and maintains a trim rating. Shares are down 1.9% at A$7.135. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0127 GMT - NextDC's strong share-price rally leads Morgans analyst Nick Harris to temper his bullishness on the stock. Harris moderates his rating to accumulate from buy following Friday's 17% jump. He tells clients in a note that the Australia-listed company remains well placed to benefit from significant and ongoing structural growth, including from cloud-computing demand. He says medium-term growth looks underpinned by contracted demand, but points out that it will be several years until this is fully revenue generating. Morgans raises its target price 1.1% to A$19.00. Shares are up 1.5% at A$16.745. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0111 GMT - Australian consumers' engagement with Aussie Broadband and Superloop appears to have grown further at the start of the country's new financial year, Citi analysts say. They tell clients in a note that visits to the telecommunication providers' websites increased by 4% in July from a month earlier. They say that app downloads were also positive, rising 19% from June, and by 7% on a year earlier. They sound unconcerned by a 69% on-year drop in the volume of app downloads for Aussie Broadband-owned Buddy, saying that the telco has placed less emphasis on growing the mobile brand since agreeing to sell it. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0025 GMT - Japanese stocks are lower in early trade amid uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs after a U.S. appeals court struck down the Trump administration's signature tariffs. Auto and technology-related stocks are weighing on the index. Index-heavy SoftBank Group is down nearly 4.0%, Fuji Corp. is off 1.5% and Canon is 0.4% lower. Among auto stocks, Toyota Motor is down 0.1%, and Suzuki Motor is 0.5% lower. The Nikkei Stock Average is down 0.8% at 42375.32. (venkat.pr@wsj.com)

2349 GMT - Japanese stocks may open lower at the start of the week as investors watch tariff-related developments. A federal appeals court late Friday struck down the Trump administration's signature tariffs, finding that the president had gone too far in his use of emergency powers to rewrite U.S. trade policy. Nikkei futures are down 480 points at 42215 on the SGX. Technology and automobile-related stocks are likely to be in focus. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.3% to 42718.47 on Friday. (venkat.pr@wsj.com)

2345 GMT - NextDC's bull at Citi still expects the Australian data-center operator to raise equity despite a focus on capital efficiency. Analyst Siraj Ahmed tells clients in a note that the company is targeting the build of its S4 and S7 Sydney centers with a need for minimal incremental capital, but that he nonetheless expects it to raise equity on the back of new contract wins. However, he stresses that NextDC's existing development pipeline and backlog can be funded through debt. Citi has a last-published buy rating and A$18.35 target price on the stock, which is at A$16.50 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2305 GMT - Citi thinks investors are underestimating the earnings potential of military shipbuilder Austal in FY 2026. Analyst Sam Teeger notes consensus expectations are for Austal to make A$119.7 million of Ebit in FY 2026. That appears conservative, given the contribution from Austal's Module Manufacturing Facility in the U.S. will be higher, Citi says. Austal expects a contribution of some A$23 million from MMF. Citi retains a neutral/high risk call on Austal. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2259 GMT - Australia's S&P/ASX 200 looks set to slip at the start of a week scheduled to include the release of key economic data. ASX futures are down by 0.3% ahead of Monday's session, suggesting the benchmark index will follow a soft lead by U.S. equities at the end of last week. With most Australian companies having reported earnings over the past month, near-term investor attention will likely fall squarely on Wednesday's release of June-quarter GDP data. Having started cutting interest rates, the Reserve Bank of Australia is closely watching economic data to decide their path from here. International trade data are also set for release this week. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2258 GMT - Uranium prices are likely to rise to $100/lb next year, says Citi. "Term prices have been trading at $80/lb in the past five months, which we consider supportive for our bullish narrative," analyst Arkady Gevorkyan says. Uranium has increased to $73/lb in recent months, and Citi thinks it will achieve $80/lb over the coming three months. "The bullish risk skew for uranium prices is significant when combined with potential under delivery of uranium producers and an increasing energy demand that incentivize an increase in nuclear energy capacity," Citi says. It highlights higher demand in China. Also, the development of small modular reactors is important. These SMRs could account for 20% of total uranium demand by 2040, Citi says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2240 GMT - Rox Resources increasingly stands out as an opportunity for investors as gold prices set new highs, Euroz Hartleys says. Rox is priced like gold is US$1,200/oz or less, analyst Kyle De Souza says. Yet the precious metal ended August at US$3,473.70/oz. Rox's appeal should grow as high-grade, near surface underground ore reserves become depleted in Australia, Euroz says. It believes the stock could be the next Pantoro, which has a market value of A$1.82 billion. "It's the only other single asset, underground story with similar grades capable of generating 100,000 oz per annum in Western Australia outside of Ramelius Resources's Dalgaranga (formerly Spartan Resources)," Euroz says of Rox. Rox ended last week at A$0.355, giving it a market value of A$265.2 million. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 31, 2025 22:23 ET (02:23 GMT)

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