The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

2009 ET - BHP's FY 2026 dividend beat and in-line FY 2027 guidance should be reasonably well received by the market, says RBC Capital Markets analyst James Redfern. BHP's annual payout of US$1.72 a share is its highest in four years and above Visible Alpha consensus of US$1.54 a share. "Along with the dividend, a key focus is new FY27 guidance for unit costs and capex," says Redfern. While forecast unit costs at Western Australia Iron Ore are 2% higher than consensus, projected costs at Escondida are 4% below consensus, he says. RBC has a sector perform rating and A$57.00 target on BHP shares. The stock is up 2.9% early in Sydney at A$63.97. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

1949 ET - Australian stocks look set to fall after President Trump's threat to bomb Oman sent oil prices higher. Local stock futures are down by 0.4% ahead of Tuesday's session, suggesting that the S&P/ASX 200 could be on course for a fifth straight decline. The benchmark index is coming off a 0.5% fall. Ahead of the open, BHP reported a 9% increase in annual net profit and an even bigger gain in underlying earnings. Hearing-implant maker Cochlear slashed its dividend on an 18% fall in annual profit. CSL swung to a deep annual loss on asset writedowns, and Reliance Worldwide said it had agreed to a takeover offer by the private equity arm of Brookfield Asset Management. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

1940 ET - As TSMC expands its global manufacturing footprint to secure future AI chip supply chains, its overseas hubs are emerging as new profit drivers, according to the company's latest filings. TSMC Arizona, once viewed as a costly overseas venture with uncertain returns, generated 36 billion New Taiwan dollars in net profit during 1H of 2026, more than doubling its full-year 2025 net profit. Its joint venture in Japan swung from a NT$9.77 billion full-year loss in 2025 to a NT$1.68 billion net profit in the first half. TSMC Nanjing also remained steadily profitable. The results suggest that TSMC can replicate its industry-leading profitability beyond Taiwan, analysts say. (jie.yang@wsj.com)

1931 ET [Dow Jones]--Australian pharmaceutical company CSL's share price looks a good bet to outperform today, RBC Capital Markets says. CSL's FY26 underlying earnings and revenue beat expectations. "We think the market will particularly like the immunoglobulin performance with FY26 revenue growth of 4% year-over-year and 2H26 growth of 14% on-year," analyst Craig Wong-Pan says. CSL expects FY27 revenue to match the FY26 outcome. It also expects underlying profit growth of 5% when currency swings are stripped out. This implies an underlying net profit of US$2.93 billion, above consensus hopes of US$2.83 billion. "The stock has had a strong run into this result, however we expect the FY27 guidance beat to consensus and strong immunoglobulin performance in 2H26 to drive outperformance in the stock today," RBC says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1936 ET - Japanese stocks may fall, tracking Wall Street's losses overnight. Investors appear to be fretting over the Middle East conflict and the apparent impasse in U.S.-Iran talks to end their conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Nikkei futures are 210 points lower at 69040 on the SGX. The dollar is at 159.33 yen, compared with Y159.45 late Monday in New York. The Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.7% higher at 69220.25 on Monday. (ronnie.harui@wsj.com)

1836 ET - Walmart's membership program, a key component of its digital flywheel, looks poised for growth ahead, Morgan Stanley analysts say in a note. The analysts expect the program to scale to about 55 million members by 2035, more than doubling from roughly 21 million members this year. That should expand Walmart's commerce, marketplace and advertising opportunity, given Walmart+ members spend about four times more and make roughly seven times as many e-commerce visits as non-members, creating more purchase occasions, richer first-party data and an opportunity to capture share of consumers' wallets, the analysts say. Additionally, higher engagement improves fulfillment density, personalization, marketplace conversion, and advertising monetization, they say. "The result is a reinforcing loop: a stronger membership proposition drives frequency, greater frequency improves economics and relevance, and those benefits fund further investment in price, convenience, and the bundle," they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

Consumers look poised to hit the stores as they prepare for a return to the classroom, setting up for a strong back-to-school shopping period, Morgan Stanley analysts say in a note. Consumer demand for goods remains resilient, with July retail sales data pointing to solid growth above levels seen in 2022 through 2024, the analysts say, though they expect growth will moderate from last year. Additionally, higher prices likely mean nominal spend will increase year over year across income cohorts, but high-income consumers will likely continue to lead the strength, the analysts say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1656 ET - Expand Energy's recently announced $1.25 billion acquisition of natural-gas supplier Twin Eagle from private-equity firm Five Point Infrastructure will increase the publicly traded energy company's access to critical assets without substantial capital outlays, says Gabriele Sorbara, a senior equity analyst at financial-services firm Siebert Williams Shank. Sorbara points to Twin Eagle's contractual rights to use third-party pipelines and storage tanks. "They're not really acquiring many assets from Twin Eagle," he says of Houston-based Expand Energy. "But it has improved their margins." He compares the approach with that of larger natural-gas producers such as EQT Corp., which about two years ago reacquired pipeline operator Equitrans Midstream in a roughly $5.5 billion deal. "Expand is doing it a little bit differently with Twin Eagle," Sorbara adds. "It's really asset-light." (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)

1438 ET - OceanaGold's acquisition of western Australia's Ausgold should help supplement production while it develops its Wharekirauponga project in New Zealand. TD Bank's Wayne Lam says that the deal for about $549 million provides OceanaGold with "a medium term growth asset with first gold targeted in 2029, helping to bridge the gap to ongoing development of WKP where first ore is guided in 2032." Lam says the addition also helps offset a potential decline in the production profile at OceanaGold's Macraes operation in New Zealand while preserving balance sheet flexibility to fund ongoing growth initiatives and continued return of capital. OceanaGold is up 3.6% to C$41.18. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1359 ET - Tapestry thinks it can leverage AI to offer products that are more likely to connect with the fashion trends of the moment, UBS analysts say in a note after attending an AI event hosted by the company. Historically, the Coach and Kate Spade parent company has gotten the trends really right in some seasons, and only sort of right in others, the analysts say. Tapestry's management thinks that kind of volatility will likely go down in the future as AI helps it hit the right trends, the analysts say. "In other words, TPR's decision 'batting average' will go higher over time," the analysts say. If those plans pan out, the stock could become more attractive to portfolio managers, who have typically had a high bar for investing in softlines stocks given fashion risk, they say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1342 ET - When it comes to Coach-owner Tapestry, investors are focused on the fashion cycle and missing the bigger picture around AI, UBS analysts say in a note after attending an AI event hosted by the company. Tapestry is using AI to leverage consumer insights, data and analytics to make better decisions across the business, the analysts say. The company is also using the technology to optimize the design process, allowing it to reduce mold making time in its footwear business by 90%, and to create a gift assistant chatbot that improves conversion, among other AI efforts, the analysts say. "This event was unique. We are very confident not more than two other companies in our 45 stock coverage universe could even come close to putting on a demonstration like the one we witnessed," the analysts say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

1246 ET - Corn typically has the highest demand for fertilizers during its growth process, and the supply chain issues seen this year may have affected how much fertilizer farmers have been able to apply to their fields. This may affect corn yields, says AgResource. The firm hosted its own crop tour last week, and now sees the national corn yield at 178 bushels an acre, which would be down 2 bpa from the USDA's August WASDE report. "It appears that due to high cost and unprofitable production margins, farmers trimmed their nitrogen application rate," says the firm. "This was not universal, but the wet spring also caused nitrogen leaching, which was not fully replaced during the growing season by the application of 32%." CBOT corn is up 1.4%.