The CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) share price has staged an extraordinary recovery over the past few months.

After dropping to around $90 in June, the healthcare giant is trading at around $171.57 on Tuesday.

That is a huge change in a short period. But with the CSL share price still comfortably short of its highs, could there be another leg higher?

The easy gains may be behind us

When the CSL share price was trading around $90, I thought the valuation looked exceptionally cheap for a company with its global healthcare operations and long-term growth potential.

Investors were pricing in plenty of disappointment following weaker guidance, restructuring, and uncertainty around the earnings outlook.

Since then, the CSL share price has risen by more than 90%.

At $171.57, I certainly would not describe the stock as dirt cheap anymore.

According to consensus estimates, CSL is expected to generate earnings per share of $9.01 in FY27, rising to $9.51 in FY28 and $10.10 in FY29.

That means CSL shares are currently trading on a PE ratio of around 19 times forecast FY27 earnings.

I think that still represents decent value for money, but the investment case has changed.

From here, I expect CSL’s earnings growth to become much more important for the market than simply recovering from an unusually depressed valuation.

What would a $200 CSL share price mean?

A move from $171.57 to $200 would represent further upside of around 17%.

I do not think that looks unrealistic. At $200, CSL would trade at roughly 22 times forecast FY27 earnings.

Looking further ahead, that falls to around 20 times the FY29 earnings estimate.

For a global healthcare company with strong positions in plasma therapies and other specialised treatments, I think that valuation could be justified if CSL delivers on the earnings recovery currently expected.

What could push it higher?

CSL Behring remains particularly important to the outlook.

The business has opportunities to grow demand for its immunoglobulin and albumin therapies while improving profitability as plasma collection becomes more efficient.

Margin recovery would be encouraging because it could allow revenue growth to translate into stronger earnings growth.

There are also still challenges elsewhere in the group, including pressure within CSL Vifor. But if earnings rise towards the current FY28 and FY29 forecasts, I think investors could become increasingly comfortable paying a higher price for the shares.

Foolish takeaway

I think the CSL share price could reach $200, although the path looks quite different from the recovery out of June’s lows.

At $171.57, the shares are no longer obviously cheap. They are trading at around 19 times forecast FY27 earnings after almost doubling in value.

For the CSL share price to move another 17% higher, I think the company will need to show that its earnings recovery is genuinely taking hold.

If it can do that, $200 does not look like an unreasonable valuation to me.

The post Is the CSL share price heading to $200? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has positions in CSL. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL. 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.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares are down 0.5% to 8,702.6 points on Tuesday.

Here are some new ratings from the experts this week.

Echo IQ Ltd (ASX: EIQ)

The Echo IQ share price is steady at 49 cents today, and up 73% over 12 months. 

Morgans has a buy rating on this ASX tech share with a 12-month price target of $1.10.

The broker said: 

EIQ has received a Not Substantially Equivalent (NSE) determination on its initial EchoSolv HF 510(k), despite an extensively validated dataset generated in line with FDA guidance. The device cannot be marketed under this application as submitted, pushing back the biggest near-term catalyst and revenue driver. Decision is a setback, but the timing points to a fixable problem.

The determination landed day 264 of the FDA’s 270-day clock, leaving the agency no scope to seek further information and forcing a decision on what it had. Management confirms a single outstanding statistical point, not a safety or clinical issue, and says the letter invites resubmission.

We read this as a file closed on expiry rather than a technology rejected, and the 510(k) route stays open.

In any case, the regulatory and timing risks have increased, reflected in a valuation cut to A$1.10.

Warrants the negative market reaction but ultimately view the validity of the tool as intact, this reads as a setback in how the data was presented and assessed, not a failure of the underlying technology itself.

James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX: JHX)

The James Hardie share price is $39.58, up 1.2% today and up 31% over 12 months. 

James Bills from Shaw and Partners has a hold rating on this ASX 200 materials share. 

He said (courtesy The Bull): 

James Hardie remains a global leader in fibre cement building products and continues to benefit from strong brand recognition and market share gains, particularly in North America.

The company has delivered solid long term earnings growth through product innovation and operational efficiency.

However, housing activity remains sensitive to interest rate movements and broader economic conditions, creating some uncertainty around demand in the near term. Given its strong fundamentals and balanced valuation, a hold recommendation remains appropriate.

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)

The Woolworths share price is $39, up 0.6% today and up 39% over 12 months. 

Bills has a sell rating on this ASX 200 consumer staples share. 

He explained: 

The supermarket group has experienced a strong recovery in the past year, with the share price recently trading near the upper end of its historical range.

While the company remains high quality with a leading position in Australian food retailing, much of the recent improvement appears to be reflected in the WOW share price.

Earnings growth is expected to remain relatively steady rather than exceptional, limiting scope for further share price appreciation from current levels.

Following the recent rally, investors may consider taking profits before re-allocating capital to opportunities with stronger growth potential and a more attractive risk-reward profile.

The post Buy, hold, sell: Echo IQ, James Hardie, Woolworths shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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.

Iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart has invested $8.7 million into copper explorer White Cliff Minerals Ltd (ASX: WCN), sending its shares more than 20% higher.

Major investment to drive exploration

Ms Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, has acquired the stake via a private placement, which constitutes about 13.5% of White Cliff’s shares on issue.

The money raised via the placement will be used to expand and accelerate the company’s exploration activities at the Rae copper project.

White Cliff’s Managing Director, Troy Whittaker, said:

Hancock Prospecting’s decision to invest is a major milestone for White Cliff and powerful third-party validation of what we are building at Rae. We have spent the past two seasons demonstrating that Rae can deliver exceptional grades across a mineralised system with genuine district-scale potential. The timing could not be more compelling. Copper prices have reached record highs, supply is tightening and global demand continues to grow. The search for large, high-quality new copper discoveries has rarely been more important, and we believe Rae has the potential to become one of them.

Mr Whittaker said the money would help accelerate drilling at the Danvers one deposit, “aggressively test the scale” of Danvers two and three, and advance exploration across the broader area.

He added:

We are still at an early stage in understanding the full scale of this system, but the results to date demand an ambitious program, and that is exactly what we now intend to deliver.

The issue of shares to Hancock Prospecting is subject to shareholder approval. White Cliff intends to hold a meeting in mid-October to hold a vote on the placement.  

White Cliff shares traded as high as 2.1 cents on the news before settling back to be 17.7% higher at 2 cents.

The company is valued at $56.2 million.

Recent results are promising

White Cliff in early September released new drilling results, including an intersection of 6.18% copper over a length of 23 metres from drill hole DAN26036 at the Danvers three discovery.

Mr Whittaker said of the results:

DAN26036 is exactly the type of result we want from step-out drilling. More than 220m from DAN26012, it has delivered 23m at 6.18% Cu, including 3.90m at 16.45% Cu and a new Danvers record assay of 23.5% Cu – Assays that demonstrate thick and high-grade continuity of the copper mineralisation. The high-grade zone remains open, with another 248m still untested towards the next drillhole in the southwest.

The post A Gina Rinehart investment has fired up this ASX copper stock 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.