Wesfarmers' Stretched Valuation Lures New Bears -- Market Talk

0140 GMT - Wesfarmers gets a pair of new bears at Jefferies, where analysts Michael Simotas and Naveed Fazal Bawa see valuation stretched by a recent share-price run. Lowering their recommendation to underperform from hold, the analysts tell clients in a note that a multiple of 18 times Ebitda is hard to justify given earnings have grown only in the mid-single digits over recent years despite a favorable economic backdrop. With conditions having turned and consumer sentiment weak, they think that a slowdown in growth at the retail and industrial conglomerate's chain of hardware stores could be the catalyst for a stock derating. Jefferies keeps a target price on the stock of 73.00 Australian dollars. Shares are down 0.3% at A$87.01. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

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July 26, 2026 21:40 ET (01:40 GMT)