There’s no fresh announcement from 4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX) on Friday, but someone is clearly buying the stock.

The 4DMedical share price has jumped 10.79% to $4.21 around midday, with more than 4 million shares already changing hands.

It continues what has been a pretty dramatic turnaround over the past week.

The stock touched $3.31 last Friday and has since climbed around 27%.

And today’s move has caught my attention because 4DMedical remains one of the most heavily shorted stocks on the ASX.

So, what is driving buyers back into this ASX 200 healthcare stock?

Why are buyers coming back?

The first place I’d look is the size of the recent sell-off.

Even after today’s jump, 4DMedical shares are still trading around 44% below their 52-week high of $7.55.

That’s a pretty big reset for a company that has continued making progress on the commercial side.

In FY26, operating revenue rose 21% to $7.1 million, while scan volumes increased 77% to 344,075 scans.

The company also finished the year with its software available across 540 sites globally, up 39% from a year earlier.

There has been more progress in the United States as well, with CT:VQ being rolled out across major healthcare networks and imaging providers.

Could short sellers be adding fuel?

The other part of Friday’s move is the very large short position sitting against the stock.

As of 11 September, around 12.4% of 4DMedical shares were reported short, making it one of the most shorted stocks on the ASX.

That means a large number of traders are still positioned for the share price to fall.

When a heavily shorted stock suddenly starts climbing, some of those traders can be forced to buy shares back to close their positions.

That extra buying can then add more momentum to the rally.

Of course, we can’t know for sure that’s happening today because short position data comes through with a 4-trading-day delay.

Still, with the shares up more than 20% over the past week, I wouldn’t be surprised if some short covering is helping the move.

What should investors watch next?

The stock has already bounced around 27% from last Friday’s low, so I wouldn’t get carried away just yet.

I’d be more inclined to watch whether 4DMedical can keep building its commercial progress, especially in the United States.

Scan volumes are rising, and more sites are coming on board, but shareholders will eventually want to see that translate into stronger revenue.

Still, with the shares well below their highs, I can see why buyers are starting to come back.

The post 4DMedical shares are rocketing 11% today. Is a short squeeze starting? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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.

Australian retail shares have had a pretty rough year, and today isn’t doing much to change that.

The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) is down 0.4% to 3,477 points in late morning trade.

This means the sector has now fallen almost 13% in 2026 and 23% over the past year.

It just shows how quickly sentiment towards retail stocks has changed this year.

And Morgan Stanley still sees plenty to worry about from here.

Why is Morgan Stanley still cautious?

According to The Australian, Morgan Stanley has taken another look at the retail sector following the latest reporting season.

And the broker is still cautious about FY27, even after the falls we’ve already seen across retail stocks.

Analyst Melinda Baxter and her colleagues said “discretionary stocks have de-rated, but earnings risks remain”.

Consumer spending held up better than Morgan Stanley expected through FY26, but the broker still sees some risks ahead for households.

There are a few reasons for that.

The RBA has lifted the cash rate 3 times this year, taking it to 4.35%.

Many mortgage holders are now paying more on their loans than they were at the start of 2026.

Consumer confidence has taken another hit as well.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 5.2% to 84.4 in September.

Westpac said petrol prices had moved back above $2 a litre, while concerns about another RBA rate hike were weighing on households.

The housing market has also started going backwards.

National home prices fell 0.2% in August, marking a fifth consecutive monthly decline from their March peak.

Morgan Stanley thinks all of this could make shoppers a little more careful about where they spend their money.

The broker expects consumers to focus more on value, replacement purchases and promotions as household budgets get tighter.

Which ASX shares does Morgan Stanley prefer?

Morgan Stanley isn’t negative on every retailer, but it has still cut price targets across its discretionary retail coverage.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) was one of the few stocks to get some good news.

The Bunnings and Kmart owner was upgraded from underweight to equal-weight, with Morgan Stanley pointing to its more stable margins.

Wesfarmers shares are up 0.39% to $73.15 today.

Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX: HVN) went the other way.

Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from equal-weight to underweight, pointing to its franchise model and exposure to the housing market.

Harvey Norman shares are down 0.96% to $4.13 in Friday trade.

The broker also remains cautious on JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH) and Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL).

Morgan Stanley has kept both stocks at underweight, with the shares trading at $65.77 and $12.37, respectively.

The post ASX retail shares are down 13% in 2026. Here’s what Morgan Stanley is worried about appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Down 22%: Are Wesfarmers shares now a good buy for passive income?
• Wesfarmers vs Telstra: Which ASX dividend stock comes out on top?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 Super Retail Group and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman and Super Retail Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

If you bought Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) shares back on 6 January 2023, and opted to sell those shares on 20 June 2025, you would have booked a tidy 170.6% gain.

But if you’d instead bought shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) business and accounting software provider on 20 June 2025, and decided to sell them today, you’d be nursing a loss of 66.5%.

And Xero shares don’t pay dividends, so there’s no passive income relief there.

Which brings us to booming ASX tech stock SKS Technologies Group Ltd (ASX: SKS).

SKS Technologies designs and installs electrical, audiovisual and communications networking systems into the data centre, government and corporate sectors. And the rapid rollout of AI technology has helped send the ASX tech stock soaring.

Currently trading for $8.34 a share, the SKS Technologies share price is up a whopping 143.2% since this time last year, smashing the 1.1% 12-month loss posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

And, unlike Xero shares, SKS paid two fully franked dividends over the last year, totalling 10 cents a share. This sees the ASX tech stock trading on a fully franked trailing dividend yield of 1.2%. That equates to a grossed-up yield of 1.7%, once we take those franking credits into account.

Why the ASX tech stock looks like a better buy than Xero shares

The team at Canaccord Genuity believe SKS Technologies can continue to outperform in the months ahead.

In a bullish note addressing the company’s growth, released in August, the broker said:

Going into FY27, we expect further scale benefits and see the 2H margin of +12% as maintainable even when accounting for the fact that each additional staff member could be less efficient than their current staff base.

We also think SKS realises genuine efficiency benefits as contracts scale, which should limit margins retracting and instead provide upside potential to our estimates over time.

Canaccord has a buy rating on the ASX All Ords tech stock with a price target of $10.30 a share.

That represents a potential upside of 23.5% from the current share price. And it doesn’t include any upcoming dividends.

What did SKS Technologies report for FY 2026?

SKS Technologies released its FY 2026 results on 18 August.

Highlights included a 33.0% year-on-year increase in revenue to $347.93 million. And earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 80.8% to $42.4 million.

Comparing that to Xero shares, Xero reported a 31% year-on-year increase in revenue to $2.75 billion, while EBITDA of $757.4 million was up 18%.

On the bottom line, SKS achieved a 93.2% increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) to $27.11 million.

Due to its Melio acquisition costs, Xero’s FY 2026 NPAT of $167.4 million was down 27% from the prior year.

The post Forget Xero shares! Broker tips this top ASX tech stock for 24% gains appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Xero shares crashed 59%. What do brokers see next?
• How to make $26,000 of passive income from ASX shares
• WiseTech Global vs Xero: Which fallen ASX tech share is the better buy today?
• 3 ASX 200 shares I’d buy if I couldn’t sell for 10 years
• 33 ASX shares going ex-dividend next week

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sks Technologies Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.