S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares closed higher on Thursday, rising 0.13% to finish at 8,617.3 points.
Many of Australia's top companies provided financial reports to the market this month.
This led to top broker Morgans issuing new notes with revised ratings and 12-month price targets on several ASX 200 large-cap shares.
Large-caps are sector-leading stocks with a market capitalisation of $10 billion or more.
Many investors favour large caps because they are well-established companies that pay regular dividends.
Let's take a look at some of these stocks.
Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX: ALL)
Aristocrat Leisure is the second-largest ASX 200 consumer discretionary share with a market capitalisation of $36 billion.
The Aristocrat share price closed at $58.74 on Thursday, up 0.39%.
Morgans upgraded its rating from accumulate to buy after Aristocrat reported its FY25 earnings this month.
The broker said:
Headline numbers were broadly in line with both our and market expectations, though a few soft spots emerged beneath the surface.
Encouragingly, management expects the business to return to its normalised growth range moving forward.
We see no structural shift in market dynamics and remain comfortable with the outlook.
Given recent share price weakness and a more compelling valuation, we upgrade ALL from Accumulate to Buy, with our 12-month target price reduced to $73 (from $77).
Xero Ltd (ASX: TNE)
Xero is the second-largest ASX 200 tech share with a market capitalisation of $20 billion.
The Xero share price closed at $123.15 yesterday, up 2.29%.
Morgans retained its accumulate rating but slashed its 12-month share price target to $141 after Xero released its 1H FY26 report.
The broker said:
XRO's 1H26 result was largely in line with expectations but higher investment expenses in the 2H and the inclusion of Melio into our forecasts lowers our EBITDA and FCF forecasts.
Our target price reduces ~30% to $141 on lower peer multiples and lower FCF per share.
We retain our Accumulate recommendation, noting it may take some time for management to build investor confidence in the value add of Melio and return XRO back to rule of 40 growth.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)
Woodside is the biggest ASX 200 energy share with a market capitalisation of $48 billion.
The Woodside share price closed at $25.02 yesterday, down 1%.
Morgans retained its buy rating with an unchanged price target of $30.50 after Woodside's Capital Markets Day this month.
Execution remains best-in-class: Scarborough, Sangomar and Trion all tracking on time and budget. Louisiana progressing under de-risked funding structure.
Growth to 2032 with net operating cash flow guided to ~US$9bn (+6% CAGR) with a pathway to ~50% higher dividends.
James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX)
This building materials company is the largest non-mining ASX 200 materials share with a market capitalisation of $13 billion.
The James Hardie share price closed at $29.86 on Thursday, up 0.37%.
Morgans upgraded its rating to buy with a $35.50 share price target after James Hardie released its 2Q FY26 results.
The broker said:
Whilst the headline 2QFY26 result was largely released in early Oct-25, the details and outlook were incrementally more positive than previously anticipated.
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).
