Analysts Lift Targets at Defence and Rails

Lockheed Martin led the day's upgrades. Analysts lifted the consensus target to $625.52, up from $618.86. The defence group has benefited from elevated global spending, and bulls outnumber bears 12 to 1 among covering analysts.

Rail stocks drew broad target increases. Union Pacific saw its consensus price target rise to $328.39 from $327.67. Norfolk Southern edged up to $357.06, with 16 holds and just five sells. Both moves follow a stretch of resilient freight volumes.

United Rentals attracted the largest absolute target lift of the session. The consensus moved to $1,269.57 from $1,261.09. Rental equipment demand has held up better than many expected heading into year-end.

On the downside, Crown Castle slipped. The consensus target fell to $93.50 from $94.30 as the tower REIT continues to face pressure from its fibre strategy review. Rollins, the pest control group, also saw a small cut to $39.06.

Oracle drew a rare negative target change despite 34 buy ratings. The consensus target dipped to $236.54 from $237.36, suggesting some analysts trimmed after recent strong gains.

Roper Technologies and Packaging Corporation of America both picked up small positive revisions. Taiwan's September export orders hit a record $114.2bn, which may reinforce the positive technology spending backdrop supporting industrial software names such as Roper.