Many of Australia's top brokers have been busy adjusting their financial models again, leading to the release of a large number of broker notes this week.
Three broker buy ratings that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here's why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone:
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their buy rating and $18.80 price target on this artificial intelligence data services company's shares. The broker believes that the recent acceleration in ad revenue by social media giants Facebook and Google could support increased investment in artificial intelligence. It believes this bodes well for Appen and could result in stronger demand for its offering. The Appen share price is trading significant lower than this price target at $12.65 this afternoon.
Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL)
A note out of Morgan Stanley reveals that its analysts have retained their overweight rating and $6.40 price target on this investigative analytics and intelligence software provider's shares. The broker has been looking at what the Square-Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) deal means for the rest of the tech sector. It suspects increased M&A activity could be a positive for companies like Nuix that have globally scalable technology and software. The Nuix share price is also trading materially lower than this price target at $2.57 today.
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)
Analysts at Macquarie have retained their outperform rating and lifted their price target on this property listings company's shares to $185.00. The broker made the move ahead of REA Group's full year results later this month. Macquarie believes there is upside risk to the market's earnings expectations thanks to positive shifts in its sales mix and stronger ad yields. The REA Group share price is trading at $168.85 on Wednesday afternoon.
