Seek Ltd (ASX: SEK) shares are trading in the red again in Tuesday morning trade. At the time of writing, the job listing company's shares are down 1.51% to $22.50 a piece.
The latest tumble means the shares have now crashed 22.9% from their 3.5-year peak of $29.18 in late September. Seek shares are now trading 5.52% below their value at this time last year.
There hasn't been any price-sensitive news out of the company since its 2025 annual general meeting (AGM) results in mid-November.
But analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) have updated investors on their outlook for Seek shares following the latest data on Australian job ad volumes for November.
In the investor note, Macquarie confirmed its outperform rating and $32.50 target price on Seek shares. The broker's stance on the stock is unchanged from August.
At the time of writing, this implies a potential 44.5% upside ahead for investors over the next 12 months.
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Seek shares remain a top pick, despite the recent sell-off
Macquarie stated that the Seek employment report for November 2025 showed that Australian job ad volumes decreased by 2% year-over-year and 1% sequentially. On a 3- and 6-month rolling basis, job ad volumes are 2% and 3% lower, respectively.
Applications per ad in October were flat sequentially at 221. But this was 97 more applications (or 78% higher) compared to the 10-year average.
"The report generally corresponds to Seek's paid ad volumes, but with adjustments to 1) the inclusion of free company ads in the report and 2) weighting of Australian / New Zealand volumes (MQe = 90% / 10% skew)," the broker said in its note.
The broker commented that monthly declines in Australia continue to narrow. Assuming these trends continue through FY26, as well as continued New Zealand strength and outperformance of paid volumes, the broker said it expects Seeks' 1H26 paid volume decline to be around 2%, and guidance for flat FY26 volumes will be achievable.
Macquarie analysts added that potential interest rate hikes in 2026 could create headwinds for job volumes.
"Seek remains our top classifieds pick; with our view that FY26 guidance may be narrowed to the high end at the 1H26 result, supported by yield but with possibly some caution on volumes given near-term rate hikes," Macquarie said.
"With that said, classifieds globally have underperformed, with significant debates on the impacts of AI, and whether there will be significant structural changes within the industries."
