Weekly Reports | 10:00 AM
Weekly update on stockbroker recommendation, target price, and earnings forecast changes.
By Mark Woodruff
Guide:
The FNArena database tabulates the views of seven major Australian and international stockbrokers: Citi, Bell Potter, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, Morgans, Ord Minnett, and UBS.
For the purpose of broker rating correlation, Outperform and Overweight ratings are grouped as Buy, Neutral is grouped with Hold and Underperform and Underweight are grouped as Sell to provide a Buy/Hold/Sell (B/H/S) ratio.
Ratings, consensus target price and forecast earnings tables are published at the bottom of this report.
Summary
Period: Monday August 17 to Friday August 21, 2026
Total Upgrades: 13
Total Downgrades: 29
Net Ratings Breakdown: Buy 63.73%; Hold 29.35%; Sell 6.91%
For the week ending Friday, 21 August 2026, the third week of the August reporting season, the seven stockbrokers monitored daily by FNArena issued thirteen ratings upgrades and twenty-nine downgrades for individual ASX-listed companies.
Following FY26 results for Audinate Group, Macquarie and Morgan Stanley upgraded their ratings to Buy-equivalent, now joining UBS and making a clean sweep of Buys among brokers in the FNArena database.
The newly emerged assessment is that Audinate, essentially a technology company allowing professional audio and video equipment to communicate over ordinary computer networks, appears well placed for a recovery after its post-covid downturn.
Shares in the group have rebounded strongly from a June low of $1.71, more than 90% below the $23.51 peak in early 2024, closing the week at $2.90 versus $2.27 at the start.
The freshly updated 12-month consensus target price for Audinate is $4.35, while outside daily coverage Buy-rated Shaw and Partners and Moelis have respective targets of $4.90 and $6.84.
Growth for Dante (the de facto standard for professional audio/video networking) and emerging operating leverage have materially de-risked the earnings outlook, Shaw suggested: https://fnarena.com/index.php/2026/08/21/in-brief-life360-audinate-hansen-technology/
Elsewhere, Northern Star Resources received three ratings downgrades, while mining technology company Imdex, Temple & Webster and BlueScope Steel received two apiece following three ‘misses’ and a ‘beat’, according to FNArena’s Corporate Results Monitor: https://fnarena.com/index.php/2026/08/21/fnarena-corporate-results-monitor-21-08-2026/
In a good week for the Healthcare sector, average broker targets for CSL and Cochlear rose by 22% and 20%, respectively, following FY26 reporting.
The Results Monitor for more details: https://fnarena.com/index.php/2026/08/19/csls-fy26-suggests-the-downtrend-is-done/
Reliance Worldwide appears fourth on the table below for a materially positive move in average target price after broadly ‘in-line’ FY26 results, though one broker in the Monitor zooms in on a softer margin outlook as tariffs, copper and other input costs offset pricing and cost initiatives.
Next on the table are better-than-forecast financial performances from Super Retail and payments infrastructure company Cuscal, both enjoying increased targets of around 10%.
Ord Minnett upgraded Super Retail to Buy from Hold last week, viewing its circa 14x FY27 price-earnings multiple as undemanding given potential earnings upside from a turnaround at Rebel stores.
Further earnings upgrades could emerge as Rebel improves, the broker suggested, while Supercheap Auto’s strong record of resilient growth provides additional support.
It’s also felt Super Retail is better placed than higher-ticket retailers to navigate a weak Australian housing cycle, given the relatively low average selling price of its products.
Ord Minnett is equally upbeat on Cuscal given its defensive three-year earnings growth story, forecasting EPS to grow at a compound annual rate of 22% through FY29.
Successful delivery of this growth is expected to drive strong share price appreciation, supported by contributions and synergies from the Indue and Paymark acquisitions.
Megaport also received a 12% boost to its target and appears atop the list below for percentage gain in earnings forecast by analysts.
In particular, Morgan Stanley has become much more positive, upgrading the stock to Overweight and doubling its target to $25.00 from $12.50.
Megaport is rapidly transforming from a relatively capital-light networking company into a broader AI infrastructure business providing connectivity, computing and storage, the broker explained.
It’s believed global demand for GPUs, computing and cloud infrastructure will exceed supply for at least the next three-to-five years.
The company now has three businesses. Its traditional network operation connects customers to cloud providers such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. This remains profitable and is growing faster than expected by the broker.
The major growth engine is Latitude’s contracted computing business. Megaport buys GPUs and other computing equipment and dedicates that capacity to customers under multi-year contracts. Contracted deal value has already exceeded $1.3bn.
The third opportunity is a new on-demand GPU/CPU pool.
Rises in average earnings forecasts outpace falls in the tables below, but it’s important to note any percentage change may be exaggerated during the reporting season as the comparison is no longer like-for-like.
Some upward/downward revisions reflect brokers rolling their financial models forward to FY27 and beyond following the release of FY26 results.
Lendlease Group and Temple & Webster both disappointed with their FY26 performance, but as the focus has now migrated to their prospects for FY27, both are included in the week's rankings for positive growth ahead, measured from that disappointing FY26 result.
This opens up apparent contradiction through respective falls of -11% and -18% in broker targets.
In contrast, FY26 results for Zip Co and Superloop exceeded market expectations and both are showing greater than 50% increase in prospective growth for the year ahead.
The Monitor also explains the reasons behind the ‘in-line’ interim performance for Telix Pharmaceuticals and the ‘miss’ by Southern Cross Media.
On the flipside, consensus targets for utilities and telecommunications software provider Hansen Technologies and Baby Bunting fell by around -19% each.
Hansen faces an earnings reset in FY27 as increased investment and the transition away from licence revenue weigh on margins.
While earnings forecasts for Baby Bunting have been downgraded, weighing on broker targets, the $2.21 average target in the FNArena database still compares favourably with Friday’s $1.285 closing share price.
Morgans upgraded its rating to Buy, joining four other brokers with Buy- equivalent ratings.
Following in-line FY26 results, Storage King’s average target also took an -11% hit. Citi regards FY27 as a reset year rather than signalling structural deterioration, with internalisation expected to deliver $7m in annualised cost savings and simplify the operating structure.
This broker also sees medium-term upside from the REIT's development pipeline and the circa -29% discount to NTA, although higher finance costs remain a near-term headwind.
For declines in average earnings forecasts, here Iluka Resources, Growthpoint Properties Australia and beverage packaging manufacturer Orora appear respectively first, second and fourth in the week's table.
All result releases proved ‘in line’ with analysts' projections.
Earnings forecasts fell by -28% and -11% for ore exposures Fortescue and Deterra Royalties, respectively, after analysts adjudged uncertain outlooks.
Total Buy ratings in the database comprise 63.73% of the total, versus 29.35% on Neutral/Hold, while Sell ratings account for the remaining 6.91%.
Upgrade
A2 MILK COMPANY LIMITED ((A2M)) Upgrade to Buy from Neutral by Citi .B/H/S: 6/1/0
Citi upgrades a2 Milk to Buy from Neutral, confident management can recover market share lost during recent supply chain disruptions faster than previously anticipated.
The company's strong execution track record underpins the more positive view, although the recovery is still expected to take time. Investors are likely to remain patient provided offtake and other operating metrics continue to improve.
The China label recovery results will be more significant than FY27 guidance, with the analyst believing management has de-risked the operational supply problem, now it is about whether it can recover enough to justify FY28 earnings.
The November 2026 AGM is identified as the next key catalyst. Target price is raised to $7.40.
First take: Citi views a2 Milk Co's FY26 as basically meeting expectations with net profit after tax of NZ$207.5m, slightly above consensus expectations.
Management offered a guidance update on 7 July. Disruption to the supply chain for China label has come in worse than historical market share data has inferred.
Positively, the broker points out the Pokeno transformation is doing well and is less of an earnings drag and more of a margin tailwind.
FY27 maiden guidance has come in about -8% below consensus at the mid-point resulting from the supply chain challenges and disruptions in 4Q26.
Citi analysts emphasise they have been flagging this risk for a while.
Target $7. Neutral rated.
AUDINATE GROUP LIMITED ((AD8)) Upgrade to Overweight from Equal-weight by Morgan Stanley and Upgrade to Outperform from Neutral by Macquarie .B/H/S: 3/0/0
Morgan Stanley upgrades its rating for Audinate Group to Overweight with an In-Line industry view and a $3.00 target price following FY26 results that confirmed top-line growth stabilisation and inventory destocking behind it.
The analyst highlights greater cost control underpinning an improved free cash flow trajectory, bringing neutrality into view by exiting 2H27.
The broker's estimates project mid-teens gross profit growth supported by software adoption and expanding operating leverage.
Management notes solid competitive positioning across Dante audio products alongside growing video and software optionality.
The analyst views previous cyclical headwinds as largely resolved, offering an attractive risk-reward entry point.
Macquarie believes Audinate Group's FY26 result marks a recovery from the post-covid downturn, with destocking complete and its core audio business stabilising.
Chips, cards and modules (CCM) growth is seen as the main source of upside, while continued AVIO Install volume growth and a shift towards higher-margin software is also expected to support earnings.
Macquarie notes restructuring benefits, including a circa -10% headcount reduction, should fully flow through in FY27, helping contain cash burn.
FY27-FY30 EPS forecasts are adjusted by -2%, 28%, 42% and 79%, respectively. The broker raises its target to $4.80 from $3.20 and upgrades to Outperform from Neutral.
ADRAD HOLDINGS LIMITED ((AHL)) Upgrade to Buy from Hold by Bell Potter .B/H/S: 1/0/0
Bell Potter upgrades its rating for Adrad to Buy with its target price increased to $1.40 from $1.35 following the release of a "sound" FY26 financial result.
Underlying EBITDA grew 10% to $19.5m, matching the broker's estimates, while statutory EBITDA outperformed expectations due to a lower incentive accrual.
The analyst highlights a stronger-than-expected cash position of $24.5m alongside a higher final dividend payout of 2.56c.
Management indicates business positioning supports a stronger half-year result compared to the previous corresponding period, underpinned by a substantial order book.
The analyst raises the valuation multiple following the solid performance, signalling confidence in ongoing operational execution.
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