Nick Scali Ltd (ASX: NCK) operates as one of the most recognisable companies in the consumer discretionary sector. 

It is one of Australia’s largest furniture retailers competing within the middle to upper end of the Australian furniture market. It also has a growing global presence via its UK entry.

In general, it has been a tough year for consumer discretionary shares. Inflation and high interest rates have impacted consumer spending. 

This has been reflected in the performance of Nick Scali shares, which are down over 30% in 2026. 

However, a new report from Bell Potter has suggested Nick Scali shares may have been oversold, creating a buy-low opportunity. 

Strength into close of FY26 – cautious on FY27

In yesterday’s report, Bell Potter said it expects Nick Scali to finish FY26 strongly.

Recent sales indicators have been positive, giving the broker confidence that the company’s seasonally strong fourth quarter met expectations.

However, Bell Potter is more cautious about FY27 because consumer confidence is weak in both Australia and the UK, especially for big-ticket household purchases like furniture.

The broker expects challenging trading conditions over the next nine months and believes FY27 will be the low point in the retail cycle.

Even so, Bell Potter expects Nick Scali to perform better than the average retailer during this difficult period.

There are also some early signs that improving housing activity in Australia and better industry trends in the UK could support a gradual recovery.

Bell Potter has reduced its FY27 and FY28 earnings forecasts, mainly because it now expects slower sales growth in the UK than previously forecast.

While our FY26e estimates remain unchanged, we apply some conservatism to our forward estimates within our revenue assumptions for NCK’s mid-market brand Plush in Australia and in the UK. Majority of our earnings changes are driven by revenue assumptions in the UK vs our previous assumptions for a sizable ramp-up in average store revenues.

Price target reduced but upside remains 

Based on this guidance, Bell Potter has reduced its price target on Nick Scali shares to $22.00 (previously $25.00). 

It has retained its buy recommendation. 

Despite lowering its target, the broker still forecasts over 36% upside from current levels. 

With a cautiously optimistic view on the broader Consumer Discretionary sector and looking through to mid-term opportunities, we continue to favour category outperformers such as NCK and see lower risk on margins in manoeuvring revenue growth vs other retailers in our coverage. 

This sees us sitting ahead of median Consensus in FY27/28e (below in FY26e). We view NCK among the highest quality retailers in our coverage, with a stable market share in ANZ and UK offering sufficient growth levers.

The post Why Nick Scali shares are set for a 36% rebound: Expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Bell 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 recommended Nick Scali. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

ASX blue-chip shares can be a great source of passive income, if we choose the right ones. For me, it’s about more than just what the dividend yield is.

I want to consider businesses that I am confident can deliver resilient payouts. Plus, I prefer ASX blue-chip shares with tailwinds that can enable them to increase their payouts over time.

The below two businesses offer pleasing diversification, a high level of passive income and potential growth. Let’s dive in.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This business is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a diversified portfolio of commercial properties across Australia.

Its portfolio spans government-related buildings (such as Geosciences Australia in Canberra), pubs and hotels, grocery and distribution, telecommunication exchanges, service stations, food manufacturing, waste and recycling, Bunnings properties and plenty more.

I think this ASX blue-chip share’s $6 billion portfolio is very attractive and offers more diversification than any other ASX-listed property investment.

But it’s not just diversification that makes this a good investment – the business also has built-in rental indexation with its tenants. The rent is either growing in line with inflation or at a fixed annual rate.

In the first half of FY26, the business saw 3% growth of like-for-like property income. This allows the business to hike its FY26 annual distribution by 2% to 25.5 cents per unit. That translates into a dividend yield of 7%. That’s a great yield in my book.

It looks great value to me considering it’s trading at a 22% discount to the net tangible assets (NTA) of $4.68 at 31 December 2026.

WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE)

The other idea I want to tell you about is this listed investment company (LIC) which largely focuses on ASX blue-chip shares with an active management strategy.

That strategy of buying when prices are lower and selling when prices are higher has helped the team at WAM Leaders portfolio outperform the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index (ASX: XJO) by an average of close to 3% more per year since the LIC’s inception in 2016, before fees, expenses and taxes.

By focusing on high-quality businesses, WAM Leaders can produce good returns in most economic conditions.

At the end of June 2026, some of its largest positions included Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP), Scentre Group (ASX: SCG), Nexgen Energy (Canada) CDI (ASX: NXG), Goodman Group (ASX: GMG), Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC), Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC) and Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD).

As you can see, it’s a portfolio full of ASX blue-chip shares.

The business has increased its annual payout each year since FY17, showing it has a great track record of providing rising dividends for investors.

It expects to pay an annual dividend per share of 9.6 cents in FY26, which translates into a forward grossed-up dividend yield of 9.8%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.

These aren’t the only ASX shares I’d buy for income, but they are among the ones I’d be very happy to buy for my portfolio.

The post 2 ASX blue-chip shares offering big dividend yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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 Goodman Group and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Amcor Plc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Goodman Group and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Ballard Mining Ltd (ASX: BM1) has been delivering some encouraging exploration results recently, and the gold company’s story has piqued the interest of the analysts at Moelis Australia, who have just initiated coverage of the stock.

Moelis has a bullish share price target on the company’s shares, which we’ll get to shortly.

First, let’s look at the company’s recent announcements.

ASX gold company delivering with exploration success

Ballard in mid-June said in a statement to the ASX that it had made a new gold discovery north of its Baldock deposit.

The new Pluto discovery included intersections, including 5m at 10.2 grams per tonne of gold from 98m, and 7m at 3.7 grams per tonne from 19m.

Ballard also extended its Ayla discovery by 200m and returned more good results from its Neptune discovery.

Just a week later, the company reported more high grade results at Baldock outside of the current one million ounce resource.

Ballard Managing Director Paul Brennan said at the time:

This is a very exciting development for Ballard. These results have the potential to add a material resource uplift to the existing base load +1 Moz Baldock deposit. The Company’s CY2026 exploration program is currently optimised towards near-term development rather than fully testing the potential of the system. These results continue to reinforce our belief that Mt Ida is potentially a camp scale project that has been historically under-explored. As we work through the remainder of our planned drilling for this calendar year, our focus is on identifying the next 1 Moz at Mt Ida.

Shares looking like good value

Moelis said in its report on Ballard that the Australian gold sector was maturing, and it was turning its focus to companies further down the development curve.

Moelis said regarding Ballard:

The key tenements are already mine permitted, and studies are well advanced around the potential to develop a new gold mining operation capable of operating in excess of 8 years producing an initial 80koz Au annually. While very early stage, our modelling suggests total capital of approximately A$270m to establish an operation with competitive industry cash costs (aided by high grade underground ore feed).

Moelis said, on current timelines, the company could be in a position to formally commit to funding and development by the end of FY27, enabling first production at the start of FY29 via an open-pit mine, followed by an underground operation from CY30.

Moelis added:

In our view the exploration potential of the region is significant and could aid both higher production run rates or longer mine life with further discovery.

Moelis has a price target of 90 cents on Ballard Mining shares compared to 63.5 cents at the time of writing.

The post This ASX gold stock could jump more than 40%: Broker 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.