There are a lot of Australian stocks to choose from on the share market, but which ones could be best buys?
Listed below are three that Bell Potter has named among its top picks for the year ahead. Here's what the broker is saying about them:
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CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)
The first Australian stock that could be one of the best to buy now according to the broker is biotechnology company CSL.
Bell Potter believes that the key CSL Behring business will return to form this year and then drive strong earnings growth in the coming years. It explains:
We expect CSL will achieve guidance of "annual double-digit earnings growth" over the mid-term driven largely by the legacy plasma business, Behring, particularly its immunoglobulin sales. While CSL's Seqirus and Vifor business units do face near-term headwinds (reduced flu market demand and generic iron competition), these two units combined only contribute less than a third of total earnings.
The broker has a buy rating and $345.00 price target on the company's shares. Based on its current share price of $272.00, this implies potential upside of 27% for investors over the next 12 months.
Cedar Woods Properties Ltd (ASX: CWP)
Another Australian stocks that could be a buy according to Bell Potter is Cedar Woods Properties.
The broker sees significant value in the property developer's shares at current levels. Particularly given its positive earnings growth outlook in FY 2025. It explains:
CWP's pipeline is diversified by product type, price point and geography, enabling them to maintain smooth earnings throughout the cycle to ride the tailwind that is Australia's undersupply of housing. We believe CWP is being held down (trading in-line with NTA vs long-term 30% premium) by noise from larger residential peers, and not being appropriately rated by the market for its exposure (soon to be earnings) to stronger markets such as WA, SA and SEQ.
The longstanding management have a track record of being conservative (and beating) guidance, so the 10% NPAT growth target set in August demonstrates the strong level of confidence in how things are going.
Bell Potter has a buy rating and $7.20 price target on its shares. Based on its current share price of $5.28, this suggests that upside of 36% is possible in 2025.
Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)
Finally, Bell Potter believes that Accent Group could be one of the best Australian stocks to buy right now.
It is the leisure footwear focused retailer behind brands such as HypeDC, Nude Lucy, The Athlete's Foot, Stylerunner, and Platypus.
Bell Potter likes the company due to its dominance of a growing market. It explains:
Accent Group commands a dominant ~30% market share in the $3b Australian footwear retailing market, in addition to a broader opportunity given the expansion into the athleisure market via its own brands. We continue to view AX1 as a key pick in our retail sector coverage given their scale as Australia's market leader, growth adjacencies in both footwear/ apparel from exclusive partnerships & TAF channel conversion and growing vertical brand strategy led by Nude Lucy.
The broker has a buy rating and $2.75 price target on its shares. Based on its current share price of $2.34, this implies potential upside of 17.5% for investors.
