It has been a busy month for brokers, with a flurry of ASX 200 shares releasing results and trading updates.
Three that went down well with analysts at Morgans are listed below. Here's why the broker has upgraded them:
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James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX)
Morgans was pleased with James Hardie's update and particularly its outlook. It notes that the building materials company has provided an outlook that was more positive than expected.
In light of this and its undemanding valuation, the broker has upgraded the ASX 200 share to a buy rating with a $35.50 price target. It said:
Whilst the headline 2QFY26 result was largely released in early Oct-25, the details and outlook were incrementally more positive than previously anticipated. Upgraded guidance reflects a c.6% organic decline (vs pcp), as a challenging environment sees volume declines exceed price increases. However, this is better than feared and may prove to be a bottoming in the cycle as demand stabilises.
JHX is trading on c.17.1x FY26F as the business navigates its acquisition missteps, earnings downgrades and a challenging consumer environment in North America (NA). However, at EPS of c.U$1.04/sh in FY26 we see upside from both earnings and an undemanding PER (ave PER. 20x). It is on this basis we upgrade to a BUY recommendation and $35.50/sh target price.
Nufarm Ltd (ASX: NUF)
Another ASX 200 share that has been given the thumbs up by Morgans is Nufarm. Although its performance in FY 2025 was weak, it was better than feared.
And with management expecting a strong year in FY 2026 and the deleveraging of its balance sheet, the broker thinks now is a good time to invest. It has upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $3.20 price target. It said:
While NUF's FY25 result was weak, it was slightly above guidance. A solid Crop Protection result was overshadowed by a poor Seed Technologies performance. Gearing was far too high at 2.7x, however it was better than feared Outlook comments were upbeat. In FY26, material earnings growth and a reduction in leverage ratios is expected. We have upgraded our forecasts. Now that there is certainty on Seed Technologies future, industry operating conditions have improved and there is a clear pathway to deleveraging the balance sheet, we upgrade NUF to a Buy recommendation and A$3.20 price target.
TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)
Finally, this enterprise software provider's shares were sold off this week despite delivering a result that was largely in line with expectations.
The broker thinks this has created an opportunity for investors and has upgraded the ASX 200 share to an accumulate rating with a $34.50 price target. It said:
TNE's FY25 result was largely in line with our expectations with the group delivering, PBT growth of +19% to $181.5m ahead of its 13-17% guidance range, and in line with consensus. The negative share price reaction appears to have been driven by softer than expected ARR/NRR print, which saw a 2% miss to ARR growth expectations vs consensus, despite this, the group continues to deliver, with ARR of $554.6m (+18% YoY), which along with its NRR growth of 115% continues to see TNE Ontrack to achieve its long-term ARR growth aspirations.
We modestly pare our EPS forecasts by 1-3% in FY26-28F. and move to an ACCUMULATE rating, with our target price $34.50 now reflecting a TSR of +19% following TNE's post result share price movement.
