Demand for rare earths is expected to grow steadily in the coming years, as sectors including electric vehicles, robotics, drones and data centres drive more use of the minerals.

One of the issues with the sector has been the dominance of China in the market, which has driven Western governments to support more project development in their own countries.

Broker Canaccord Genuity says this is one of the driving forces behind a strong outlook for ASX-listed companies which are either producing rare earths or intend to.

Industry demand for rare earths to remain strong

The broker has issued a new research note which forecasts demand for key magnet rare earths to grow at a compound annual rate of 7% to 2035.

CG added that government support was making more projects viable.

They said:

Government-backed financing/floor pricing has firmed up new ex-China mine developments, with our revised forecasts now calling for more balanced market conditions in the global NdPr market from 2028-30. This is mirrored in heavy rare earths (DyTb, Y, Gd, etc.) where Chinese export controls/Western pricing premiums have incentivised plans for new Western separation capacity. Longer-term, we continue to forecast deficits in both markets given demand growth from existing and emerging segments (i.e. humanoid robotics) and challenges facing Western supply.

CG said there were “numerous challenges” facing the West’s objective of achieving independence from China, “including mismatches between planned mine supply and oxide separation, and significant shortfalls in metallisation/alloying”.

They added:

In summary, our research points to China maintaining market dominance, with shortfalls in Western supply (and the likelihood of ongoing Chinese export controls) supporting bifurcated markets and pricing premiums (most evident in heavy rare earths).

CG said 2028 would be a key inflection point for supply with a number of ex-China projects coming online.

Plenty of buying opportunities in ASX rare earths companies

Regarding specific companies, CG has rated six ASX-listed rare earths companies as speculative buys.

These are: Arafura Resources Ltd (ASX: ARU) with a price target of 40 cents; Brazilian Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: BRE) with a price target of $7.35; Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX: HAS) with a price target of 30 cents; Ionic Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: IXR) with a price target of $1.25; St George Mining Ltd (ASX: SGQ) with a price target of 26 cents; and Viridis Mining Ltd (ASX: VMM) with a price target of $6.50.

CG has a buy rating on Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU) with a price target of $7.25 and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) with a price target of $23.

The post Why are these 8 ASX rare earths companies rated a buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Cameron England has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME) shares closed the day up around 3% on Wednesday afternoon, at $184.83.

The increase means the shares have now jumped 13% over the past week alone. The latest rally has helped recoup some of the losses shed by the company over the past 12 months. But they’re still down 17% for the year-to-date and 36% lower than 12 months ago.

Why is everyone rushing to buy Pro Medicus shares this week?

The ASX healthcare company has come into focus this week after it announced two new seven-year contract wins.

On Monday, Pro Medicus announced its wholly owned US subsidiary, Visage Imaging, had signed a A$24 million contract with Billings Clinic – Logan Health in the US. The implementation will see Visage 7’s entire platform integrated, including image distribution within the client’s electronic health record system. Rollout planning is underway, aiming for a go-live date in early 2027.

The announcement was followed by news of a second contract deal on Wednesday. Pro Medicus announced a A$43 million contract with Virtua Health, also in the United States, for a unified imaging platform comprising Visage 7 Viewer, Workflow, Open Archive, and Cardiology products. Planning is underway and with a go-live date in around the second or third quarter of the 2027 calendar year. 

The announcements have clearly been well received by investors. 

The new contract wins continue a strong run of major client acquisitions and contract renewals this year.

They also come at a time when the broader healthcare sector is continuing to rebound after a difficult first-half to the calendar year.

Are the shares a buy, sell, or hold after the latest rally?

Most experts are still very optimistic about the outlook for Pro Medicus shares over the next 12 months.

TradingView data shows that the majority (nine out of 15) have a buy/strong buy rating on the shares. Another five rate the stock a hold, and one has a strong sell rating.

The average $212.74 target price sits around 15% above the trading price at the time of writing, implying a decent upside ahead over the next 12 months.

Some are even more optimistic and forecast the shares to jump up to 35% higher to $250 each within the next year, at the time of writing.

Citi recently renewed its buy rating on the shares with a $225 target.

The team at Morgans also think Pro Medicus shares are in the buy zone. They upgraded their rating to a buy with a $230 price target following its contract wins. The team commented that while the individual contracts in FY27 are modest, they’re consistent in size, term, and scope. This helps to broaden the company’s pipeline beyond large integrated delivery networks.

The post Up 13%: Why is everyone buying Pro Medicus shares this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX: JDO) shares copped a hiding earlier this year when the company downgraded earnings expectations and upped provisions for bad debts.

The shares have failed to recover since, and are down about 45% on a 12-month basis.

Time for Judo Capital shares to rerate?

It will be heartening, then, that three separate brokers are tipping solid share price gains for the small-business bank following the company’s annual general meeting this week.

And why are they so optimistic about the company’s fortunes?

In the words of the Macquarie analysts, “no news is good news”.

By this they meant that there was no more bad news coming out of the company which could send the share price even further south.

While Judo’s trading update delivered at the AGM was unremarkable, if not a bit soft, it was at least not negative, Macquarie said.

They added:

While the messaging in JDO’s 1Q27 trading update pointed to some softer trends and a more cautious growth outlook, we see no major new negative catalyst, which is a positive given current expectations and recent share price weakness. Conditions have softened since the FY26 results, including higher arrears and lower capital, but we suspect this is largely expected by investors given recent share price weakness, and off-balance sheet activities remain available for JDO.

Macquarie made the point that the economic outlook remains uncertain, so it was difficult to extrapolate the trading update across the rest of the financial year.

They added:

While the “caution from SMEs” that was flagged into today’s trading update was already factored into the previous guidance, growth could be somewhat slower than JDO’s recent run-rate.

Macquarie said credit quality remained a near-term concern; however, the underlying revenue trend for the business appeared sound.

Brokers unanimous that Judo Capital shares will improve

The team at Morgans said the valuation of Judo was compelling at current prices “given the strong growth outlook”.

They added:

Given our discounted cash flow valuation as the base case scenario and zero equity value as the downside scenario, we estimate the share price is implying c.23% probability of failure. This looks unreasonable given the common equity tier 1 strength. JDO is a challenger bank with pure-play exposure to the SME business banking space (leveraging a relationship-driven customer proposition) and a rapidly growing online deposit franchise. We expect earnings growth to be at strong double-digit rates across FY27-29.

Morgans said Judo was higher risk than the larger banks, but investors were compensated with higher potential returns.

Morgans has a price target of $1.44 on Judo shares, while Macquarie has a price target of $1.65. Morgan Stanley has a price target of $1.30.

Judo shares are currently changing hands for 94 cents. The company is valued at $1.04 billion.

The post How high do brokers think Judo Capital shares will soar? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Cameron England has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.