Buy, hold, sell: CBA, CSL, and DroneShield shares

The three ASX shares in this article are among the most popular on the local market.

But are they buys according to analysts? Let’s find out if they rates them as buys, holds, or sells in January. Here’s what they are saying:

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

Banking giant Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the most widely held shares on the local market. But unfortunately for its many shareholders, the team at Morgans believes its shares could fall heavily from current levels.

The broker recently put a sell rating and $96.07 price target on CBA’s shares. This is significantly lower than its current share price of $153.22.

Morgans suspects that tougher trading conditions and its current valuation mean there is a risk of poor future investment returns. It recently said:

The market’s response to a mild earnings miss for a stock priced for perpetual perfection was today’s sharp share price decline. WBC seemed to be a beneficiary. We’ve downgraded FY26-28F EPS and DPS by c.3%. Lower earnings also reduces terminal ROTE and sustainable growth in our DCF valuation. DCF-based target price declines to $96.07/sh. We remain SELL rated on CBA, recommending clients aggressively reduce overweight positions given the risk of poor future investment returns arising from the even-now overvalued share price and low-to-mid single digit EPS/DPS growth outlook.

CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)

Morgans believes that CSL’s shares have been sold down to levels that are unjustified and is urging investors to snap them up while they can.

The broker has a buy rating and $249.51 price target on this biotechnology company’s shares. It said:

Despite the majority of the business “tracking to plan”, FY26 cc guidance had been downgraded (2-3% at revenue and NPATA mid-points), mainly reflecting continued declines in US influenza vaccination rates, although Chinese government cost containment affecting albumin demand was also flagged. While management is confident it can limit the impact of the latter to 1HFY26 via mitigation measures, ongoing uncertainty in the US influenza vaccine market has seen FY27-28 NPATA growth expectations moderate (to HSD from DD) and delay the demerger of Seqirus (prior FY26).

Although it remains challenging to know when US influenza vaccination rates will stabilise, we believe the risk of a permanently lower base is being over-priced, with Seqirus and Vifor marked down, with even Behring trading below peers and well under its long-term average, which we see as unjustified. We lower FY26-28 net profit forecasts by up to 14.3%, with our PT decreasing to A$249.51 (from A$293.83). BUY.

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)

Finally, the team at Bell Potter thinks that DroneShield is well-positioned in a rapidly growing market.

As a result, it has a buy rating and $4.50 price target on the counter drone technology company’s shares. Commenting on its outlook, the broker said:

We believe DRO has a market leading RF detect/defeat C-UAS offering and a strengthening competitive advantage owing to its years of battlefield experience and large and focused R&D team. We expect 2026 will be an inflection point for the global counter-drone industry with countries poised to unleash a wave of spending on RF detect and defeat solutions. Consequently, we believe DRO should see material contracts flowing from its $2.5b potential sales pipeline over the next 3-6 months as defence budgets roll over to FY26e.

The post Buy, hold, sell: CBA, CSL, and DroneShield shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in CSL. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL and DroneShield. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.