Bell Potter has been busy picking out the best stocks to buy in 2025.
Among its list of top picks are the two ASX 300 stocks named below. Let's see why its analysts are bullish on them:
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Gentrack Group Ltd (ASX: GTK)
Bell Potter thinks this specialist software developer could be a top ASX 300 stock to buy in 2025.
While the broker acknowledges that its shares look expensive on paper, it believes this is justified given its very strong growth potential.
Commenting on its buy recommendation, the broker said:
Gentrack develops, provisions, and integrates its billing/CRM platform into energy and water utilities, generating up-front project revenue (from deployments/integrations) that transitions into SaaS-type recurring revenue and embeds GTK within utility tech stacks long-term due to high switching costs.
Demand for modern-day utilities billing solutions is growing rapidly due to dual tailwinds in (1) an evolving energy grid generating significant amounts of data and complexity in billing and customer management, and (2) legacy tech debt incurred from historical underinvestment in the utility billing stack. GTK has a track record of upgrading and beating guidance, with the interim result in May likely to be the next catalyst potentially from lumpy, large contract wins in Southeast Asia. GTK appears expensive at ~90x/~56x FY25e/26e P/E however the valuation reflects high earnings leverage emerging, noting PEG ratios of ~1.2x and ~0.9x respectively.
Bell Potter has a buy rating and $13.90 price target on its shares.
Austal Ltd (ASX: ASB)
Another ASX 300 stock that is being tipped as a buy for 2025 by Bell Potter is Austal. It is one of the world's leading shipbuilders, providing design, manufacturing and support capabilities for defence and commercial customers.
Bell Potter believes now is a great time to invest ahead of a material uptick in its earnings growth from FY 2025 onwards. It explains:
ASB has established itself as a key contributor to both the US and Australian naval industrial bases, which is reflected in its record contract book of ~$12.7b AUD. The company was recently announced as the Australian Government's shipbuilder of choice in WA, which is likely to result in the award of several additional contracts (BPe ~$7b – $10b) as part of the renewal of the RAN fleet.
Austal has successfully navigated the recent transition from legacy contracts to the current orderbook and we anticipate material earnings growth from FY25 onwards as these new programs mature.
The broker has a buy rating and $3.75 price target on Austal's shares.
