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(Sharecast News) - Broker Shore Capital lifted its recommendation on CMC Markets to 'buy' from 'hold' on Thursday and upped its price target to 330p from 280p after the spread betting firm lifted its outlook for full-year net operating income following a better-than-expected first half.
CMC now expects net operating income to be about 10% ahead of current market expectations of 353.9m for FY2026.
Shore Capital said: "CMC has published interim results where the outlook is significantly better than we expected, whilst H2F is off to a strong start.
"Today's statement shows how the significant investment CMC has made over the past few years is now beginning to bear fruit in terms of earnings contribution, whilst showcasing CMC's impressive technological capabilities, which provide optionality for future growth."
Shore said it was making material upgrades to its forecast after the interims. For FY2026, Shore now expects trading net revenue of 293.7m, up from an estimate of 254.8m previously. It lifted its forecast for total revenue to 388.7m from 355.3m and its forecast for adjusted pre-tax profit by 25% to 118.3m. For FY2027, it lifted its estimate for trading net revenue by 17% to 310.8m and its forecast for total revenue by 11% to 412.3m. It now expects adjusted pre-tax profit of 126.9m, up from 101.m.
Shore said the share price performance over the past year has been disappointing, which is a reflection of delays in CMC's ability to monetise the significant investment it has made over the past few years and poor management of earnings expectations, which has resulted in an extended period of downgrades.
Panmure Liberum has raised its target price slightly for Rotork after the flow control and instrumentation group's strong third-quarter update this week, expressing confidence in the company hitting full-year targets.
The broker lifted its target price from 360p to 370p and kept a 'buy' rating on the stock.
Rotork's third-quarter order intake was 6% higher than last year on an organic constant currency basis, rising to 8% when including the contribution from Noah Actuation, which was acquired earlier this year to expand Rotork's geographical coverage in Asia Pacific.
However, the company needs a pickup in momentum over the fourth quarter if it wants to meet analysts' expectations this year, Panmure Liberum said, after orders grew by just 3.3% in the first half. To hit consensus estimates for a 5.1% full-year increase in orders, second-half orders need to grow by 6.9% overall.
"Despite a strong Q3, Rotork still requires another quarter of strong growth. Though, at this stage in the year we are confident that management has sufficient visibility in delivering," the broker said.
Rotork also announced plans for a new 50m share buyback programme, which Panmure Liberum estimates will deliver 1.7% and 2.2% earnings per share accretion over FY26 and FY27, respectively. While the broker has cut its net cash estimates as a result of the buyback, it said that "plenty of firepower remains".
Analysts at Berenberg upgraded copper miner Atalaya Mining from 'hold' to 'buy' on Thursday, admitting that they were "late to the party".
Berenberg said Atalaya's shares had enjoyed "a strong run" year-to-date, with copper prices up over 20% on tight markets and the firm itself delivering "a solid operational year", with good cash-flow generation, while also benefiting from index buying following a corporate redomicile that saw the shares enter the FTSE 250.
The German bank, which raised its target price on the stock from 630p to 760p, thinks that the Atalaya can benefit from a number of catalysts that it believes will drive the shares higher.
"We adjust our model for the recent Q3 results (while also making small model tweaks) and lift our EV/EBITDA multiple to 8x (from 6x), reflecting the current market premium for copper equities," said the analysts.
Berenberg added that Atalaya's shares were currently trading on 1.19x net asset value and 4.5x 2026E underlying earnings.
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