sk as a full-scale takeover would. That’s why Jefferies expects Macquarie to lean on partnerships and organic expansion to add origination capacity and a broader platform. The tradeoff is timing: those efforts typically show up first as steadier, fee-like income, while any bigger lift to group profits can take longer to become visible. Jefferies kept its buy rating and held its price target at AU$253.73, but it also warned results could land later than recent commentary implies.
Why should I care?
For markets: Jefferies’ AU$253.73 target comes with a timing catch.
A partnership-led push into private credit can change what investors pay attention to. Instead of a one-time jump in earnings from buying a lender outright, the early proof points are usually growth in the platform itself – more deals sourced, more client money managed, and a gradually larger stream of management fees. That can be positive for stability, because fee income tends to swing less with markets than trading or dealmaking. But it also means Macquarie’s near-term results may still be judged mostly on its existing businesses, while the market waits for clear evidence that private credit is big enough to “move the needle.” In that kind of setup, a rerating can be slower even if analysts keep their target prices unchanged.