Many of Australia's top brokers have been busy adjusting their financial models and recommendations again. This has led to the release of a number of broker notes this week.
Three ASX shares that brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here's why their analysts are feeling bullish on them right now:
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Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1)
According to a note out of Morgan Stanley, its analysts have retained their overweight rating on this leisure footwear focused retailer's shares with a trimmed price target of $2.50. Morgan Stanley has been looking into the company's agreement to roll out the Sports Direct brand in Australia and New Zealand. The broker is pleased with the deal and believes it will be a success based on its rollout in other countries. This could be bad news for Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL), which owns the Rebel brands. And while there are likely to be some losses associated with the business while it scales, Morgan Stanley thinks it will deliver the goods eventually. The Accent Group share price is trading at $1.89 on Wednesday.
Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)
A note out of Goldman Sachs reveals that its analysts have retained their conviction buy rating on this data centre operator's shares with an improved price target of $16.50. This follows news that NextDC has signed a 52MW contract in M3, which given it is an AI deployment, is expected to be fully billing by FY 2028. In light of this, the broker believes that the company's strong earnings growth out to 2028 is now underwritten. And that doesn't include any other significant contracts that could be announced this year. All in all, the broker continues to feel very positive about NextDC's outlook and thinks that its shares are trading at an unjustified discount to peers. It estimates that the company still only trades on 19x EV/fully contracted EBITDA, which is below both trading multiples (24x to 30x) and recent transactions (21x to 42x). The NextDC share price is fetching $13.58 at the time of writing.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)
Analysts at Ord Minnett have upgraded this energy giant's shares to a buy rating with a trimmed price target of $25.00. According to the note, the broker has reduced its crude oil estimates for 2025 and 2026. However, it expects higher prices to return from 2027 as they will be needed to encourage new supply. In light of this and significant share price weakness this year, the broker believes that Woodside shares are undervalued at current levels and is urging investors to buy the dip. The Woodside share price is trading at $20.28 on Wednesday afternoon.
