S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XJO) shares can be a great place to hunt for opportunities. A leading broker has recently picked out two opportunities it thinks are buys.
UBS has looked at numerous ASX 300 shares and has worked out where it thinks the share prices for many of them may be next year, as well as giving them an investment rating.
I'm going to look at two of the businesses that have recently been rated as buys by UBS and how much upside the broker thinks they have.
Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)
UBS describes the ASX travel share as a business that provides travel management services to corporates in Australia, North America, Europe, and Asia. The broker says the ASX 300 share differentiates itself from competitors through "its superior technology offering and its return on investment focus – which aims to reduce clients' overall travel spend."
Earlier this month, the broker upped its rating on Corporate Travel Management shares to a buy.
UBS said the current macro uncertainty (mainly US geopolitical driven) has created near-term uncertainty for travel globally. This is likely to mean a "softer" backdrop going into FY26. With that in mind, it reduced its estimate for spending per customer by 6% in the US and between 1.5% and 1.8% elsewhere, though there is uncertainty about those assumptions.
The broker also noted the ASX 300 share's "strong new business win momentum", which has accelerated from $1 billion of total transaction value (TTV) per annum, to $1.6 billion of TTV in FY25.
The broker estimates this would add 17% to revenue growth at a full run-rate, adding 14% growth in FY26.
UBS then said:
Together with upside from the global Sleep Space roll-out and cost efficiency gains from Project Atlas, this should enable CTD to still grow earnings despite a softer macro backdrop. We recognise uncertainty but believe this is adequately reflected in the share price.
The broker has a price target of $13.55 on the company, implying a possible rise of 6% from its current price. It's currently priced at 17x FY26's UBS estimated earnings.
Mac Copper (ASX: MAC)
UBS describes Mac Copper as an ASX mining share that 100% owns and operates the CSA copper mine in Cobar, NSW. This asset was acquired from Glencore in 2023 and is one of Australia's highest-grade copper mines at around 1.9km depth. The company is targeting annual copper production of more than 50kt by 2026.
The broker has a buy rating on the ASX copper share because UBS is bullish on copper, and there aren't many ways to play it.
While the Trump administration has supposedly been a headwind for copper in the short term, UBS thinks the copper price has held up relatively well. UBS is expecting the copper price to be US$4 per pound. However, short-term issues will exacerbate the long-term structural supply challenges the industry faces, and the market continues to underestimate this, in UBS' view.
UBS said in a note:
Miners are struggling to keep copper supply up given the accelerating industry trends of declining exploration, older mines, increasing depths, lower grades, longer development timeframes, higher capex and higher operating costs. We believe 6mt of new supply is required within 10 years and a US$5.00/lb copper price is required to incentivise that supply.
The broker said the ASX 300 share offers production growth, which is rare in the copper sector. UBS thinks the miner can reach more than 60kt per year of production once the ventilation infrastructure is in and the Merrin mine has ramped up.
UBS is forecasting that MAC Copper's earnings per share (EPS) could rise from US 54 cents in FY25 to US$2.43 in FY29.
UBS' price target on Mac Copper shares is $21, which implies a possible rise of 37.7% from current levels.
