S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares fell 0.13% to 8,795.2 points last week.
Communications and financial shares led the ASX 200 market sectors, rising 4% each last week.
Materials and technology fell heavily, down 7.7% and 5.1% respectively, due to a US tech and AI sell-off.
Let's start the new week with some fresh ratings from the experts.
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Nick Scali Ltd (ASX: NCK)
The Nick Scali share price tumbled 12.6% to $12.65 following a trading update last week.
Chami Ratnapala from Bell Potter has a buy rating on this ASX 200 consumer discretionary share.
Ratnapala said:
Nick Scali (NCK) provided a guidance update ahead of the upcoming AGM (26-Oct). NCK's 1H27 NPAT range of $28-32m came in as a miss of 8-20% to Consensus and a 14-25% to BPe.
Our TP [target price] decreases by 24% to $16.00 driven by earnings revisions and as our target P/E multiple reduces to ~22x on a FY27e basis (prev. 23x).
Looking through to the recovery past the weaker FY27 period/potentially into 1H28, we continue to see resilience in NCK's gross margins.
We view NCK as a high-quality retailer better placed vs category peers/our coverage to withstand promotional/CODB pressures in the weak trading environment which we anticipate for the next 6-9 months.
Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL)
The Medibank Private share price rose 5.3% to $4.99 on no company news last week.
Jonathan Tacadena from MPC Markets has a hold rating on this ASX 200 healthcare share.
Tacadena said (courtesy The Bull):
This private health insurer operates a high quality defensive business.
Health insurance is a resilient industry with a strong ageing demographic tailwind, and premium growth is predictable.
The company pays a reliable fully franked dividend. Group operating profit of $813.5 million in full year 2026 was up 6.7 per cent.
We suggest retaining MPL for income and wait for a possibly more appealing entry point before considering to add.
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
The BHP share price descended 8.3% to close at a 5-month low of $55.05 on Friday.
The miner revealed mixed results for 1Q FY27, and copper prices retreated to a 5-week low last week.
Joshua Baker from RaaS Group has a sell rating on this ASX 200 mining share.
Baker said:
An attributable profit of $US9.8 billion in full year 2026 capped off a strong result for the global miner.
Copper generated more than half the company's earnings. However, copper production fell by 19 per cent in the first quarter of 2027 in response to lower planned concentrator feed grades and operational disruptions across its assets.
BHP operates in volatile global markets. Elevated energy and freight costs present challenges despite resilient demand for commodities.
BHP is a quality company, but we would be inclined to take profits at this stage of the cycle.
