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

2101 ET - Australia's 3Q GDP looks soft on the surface, but that's largely an inventory story, not an activity story, says Sunny Nguyen at Moody's Analytics. "The main reason the headline looks softer than the domestic story is inventories; firms ran down stock more aggressively than expected." Stripping out that drag, underlying domestic demand is running closer to 1% on quarter, driven by private and public investment, she says. Essential consumption held steady, even as stretched households rein in discretionary spending. For Nguyen, the clearest positive is on the capex side--private investment made a solid contribution to growth, and housing investment added support. All told, Australia is in a narrow but stable corridor: growth is below potential and households under pressure, but the investment undercurrent--if it can last--looks promising. (fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)

1934 ET - HD Hyundai Electric could maintain strong earnings growth through 2030, supported by U.S. power-grid upgrade projects, Daiwa Capital analysts Mike Oh and Daeho Son write in a note. They expect the South Korean electrical-equipment maker to lift its "too conservative" 2027 revenue guidance, citing recent contract wins in the U.S. The company's KRW258-billion September deal to supply 765-kilovoltage large power transformers to a Texas customer should materially improve its backlog order in 2028-2029, they say. The company's operating-margin improvement is expected to accelerate until 2030, given the limited competition in the U.S. high-voltage power transmission projects and clients' long-term bookings, they add. (kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com)

1919 ET - Japanese shares are higher in early trade, led by chip-related stocks, following overnight gains on Wall Street. Renesas Electronics is up 5.0% and Tokyo Electron is 3.7% higher. USD/JPY is at 155.74, compared with 155.78 as of Tuesday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are closely watching domestic economic data to weigh the possibility of the Bank of Japan's potential rate increase later this month. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's economic plans are also in focus. The Nikkei Stock Average is up 0.8% at 49700.30. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com; @kosakunarioka)

1856 ET - American Eagle says its Aerie brand is gaining steam and has plenty of room left for future growth. Aerie, and its activewear brand Offline, are "rapidly emerging as important customer destinations," CEO Jay Schottenstein says during a call with analysts. The brands earn close to $2 billion in annual revenue and have less than 5% of market share, indicating a significant runway for future expansion, he says. Aerie's same-store sales grew 11% in the latest quarter, with growth accelerating throughout the period and into the fourth quarter due to strong demand across all categories, including intimate apparel, sleepwear and activewear, the company says. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1853 ET - Japanese stocks may rise following overnight gains on Wall Street. Nikkei futures are up 0.6% at 49590 on the SGX. USD/JPY is at 155.83, compared with 155.78 as of Tuesday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are focusing on domestic economic data to consider prospects of the Bank of Japan's potential rate increase later this month. Any progress in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's economic plans is also in focus. The Nikkei Stock Average closed flat at 49303.45 on Tuesday. (kosaku.narioka@wsj.com)

1843 ET - Morgans analyst Keeley Walsh is waiting to see how Collins Foods' strategy in Germany plays out before turning more positive on the stock. She tells clients in a note that the ASX-listed company is outperforming fast-food franchising peers in Australia and Europe despite a challenging consumer environment. The KFC-brand operator has flagged Germany as its next big growth opportunity, with potential for inorganic acquisitions to accelerate plans. Keeley wants to see evidence that management is executing on strategy. Morgans lifts its target price 1.6% to A$12.40 and keeps an accumulate rating on the stock. Shares are down 2.95% at A$10.87. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1840 ET - AUB Group's bulls at Macquarie stay positive given apparent resilience in the insurance broker's premium-rate pricing. Resuming coverage of the stock with an outperform rating, Macquarie's analysts highlight what looks like better pricing trends relative to peers including Steadfast. They point out that AUB management says they haven't seen the softening observed elsewhere, with client and product mix among the possible explanations. The Macquarie analysts tell clients in a note that AUB's commentary and medium-term contracts imply potential upside to their forecasts from fiscal 2027 onwards. Macquarie puts a A$37.40 target price on the stock, which is down 1.4% at A$31.115. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1823 ET - The strength of Collins Foods' balance sheet gives the Australian fast-food franchiser the capacity for acquisitions to drive benefits of scale, Macquarie analysts write in a note. Germany looks particularly interesting, they say, as the ASX-listed company is actively assessing bolt-on opportunities that could accelerate its growth there. Collins' debt stands at just 0.9x earnings and the company is still growing earnings, they add. Overall, the view at Macquarie is that Collins is executing well on cost management and top-line growth, although the outlook for Australian margins is uncertain. Macquarie lifts its target price 4.5% to A$11.70 and stays neutral on the stock. Shares are down 2.8% at A$10.89. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1821 ET - - CrowdStrike's third-quarter report shows the company has fully recovered from its outage in the summer of 2024, which sent the stock down almost 40%, eToro analyst Farhan Badami says. The cybersecurity company reported 73% year-over-year growth in new recurring revenue, which shows AI-driven demand is translating into returns, Badami says. Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and common in the age of AI, which is bringing more companies to CrowdStrike, he says. The company's upward adjustment to its full-year outlook also shows the strong quarter is not a one-off, and shares have now doubled since the outage, showing there were few long-term impacts on fundamentals, Badami says. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1756 ET - Bending Spoons may not be a household name in the U.S. (it's not a kitchenware company) but it continues to build a stable of prominent brands. Its roughly $500 million Eventbrite deal follows the $1.38 billion purchase of Vimeo and an agreement to buy AOL from Apollo Global Management. Italy-based Bending Spoons "aims to hold forever, and has never sold an acquired business." Bending Spoons bought Evernote in 2023, Meetup in 2024 and Brightcove in February. In October, Bending Spoons said it raised $710 million in equity at a pre-money valuation of $11 billion. Meanwhile, Eventbrite surged 79% to $4.43 on Tuesday. The company priced its IPO at $23 a share in 2018.(josh.beckerman@wsj.com)

1748 ET - Jefferies analyst Wei Sim sees limited impact on Australia's Zip from the U.S. attorney general's inquiry into buy-now-pay-later operators. Sim points out that the ASX-listed company already maintains stringent policies, including relatively tight controls on accounts with missed repayments. Zip has also controlled U.S. net bad debts relative to transaction value, he tells clients in a note. Sim sees the risk to Zip being a potential requirement for credit score evaluations if regulatory trends become stricter. This isn't certain, he adds. Jefferies has a last-published hold rating and A$5.00 target price on the stock, which is at A$2.95 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1720 ET - Collins Foods' bull at Citi is confident that the Australian fast-food franchiser can maintain sales growth even if consumers are faced with higher interest rates. While the investment bank doesn't anticipate a rate hike in Australia, analyst Sam Teeger thinks that Collins appears cautious on potential consumer impacts from a shift in central-bank policy. Nonetheless, he tells clients in a note that Collins is doing an excellent job in driving same-store sales growth through menu innovation and value offerings. He reckons that this approach should sustain Collins' sales even if the Reserve Bank raises the cash rate. Citi trims its target price 1.7% to A$12.85 and reiterates a buy rating on the stock, which is at A$11.20 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 02, 2025 21:01 ET (02:01 GMT)

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