Sydney, May 20, 2026, 03:04 (AEST)
- Macquarie finished at A$240.98 in Sydney on Tuesday, up 1.87%.
- The stock traded ex-dividend on Monday, with the dividend record date landing Tuesday.
- Australian financial stocks moved higher with the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.17%.
Macquarie Group jumped 1.87% to A$240.98 on Tuesday. The stock got a lift after the record date for the A$4.20 final dividend passed and as local financials moved higher. The ASX cash market was shut at the dateline. Regular trading is from just before 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sydney.
Macquarie shares went ex-dividend on Monday, so anyone buying after that won’t get the latest payout. The record date was Tuesday for shareholders getting the dividend on July 2. The dividend comes 35% franked, giving some Australian tax credits to eligible investors.
S&P/ASX 200 bounced back 99.4 points, or 1.17%, to 8,604.7 on Tuesday, following losses from Monday. The recovery tracked a broader lift across the market, with Australia’s main index for the top 200 ASX stocks showing gains.
Financials pushed higher as part of the rebound. Market Index reported the sector climbed 1.72%. National Australia Bank gained 2.0%, Westpac added 1.9%, and Commonwealth Bank was up 1.3%. That helped Macquarie find some peer support, even though its business leans more on global and markets operations than the retail banks.
Macquarie’s numbers from its May 8 result are still the main focus. The company posted a FY26 net profit of A$4.847 billion, up 30% from the prior year, along with a record H2 profit of A$3.192 billion. Earnings per share climbed 30% to A$12.77. Return on equity was 14.0%, up from 11.2%.
Macquarie CEO Shemara Wikramanayake said “each of our businesses used its specialist expertise” given current conditions, language that sums up the bank’s split between asset management, banking, advisory, commodities and markets trading. Macquarie
Commodities and Global Markets, or CGM, was Macquarie’s top performer. CGM—Macquarie’s division that helps clients trade, finance, and manage price risk in energy and metals—saw profit contribution jump 49% to A$4.221 billion. Macquarie credited the number to its sale of the OnStream meters platform and more client hedging in global gas, power, and oil.
Macquarie’s profit topped a Visible Alpha consensus of A$4.39 billion, Reuters said. The stock jumped to a record A$249.49 after the result, then pulled back in line with the market. “While volatility is welcome,” said Simon Wright, head of CGM, “prolonged turmoil can curb client appetite.” Reuters
Valuation is the key issue. Morningstar analyst Nathan Zaia said Macquarie’s profit was 14% above his forecast, but he left his A$205 fair value estimate unchanged and still sees the shares as “overvalued.” Morningstar
Other data points are more mixed. MarketScreener had the average rating from 13 analysts at “Outperform,” with a price target averaging A$250.14. That’s just a bit above where the stock last closed. MarketScreener
The next phase isn’t a straight line. Macquarie warned its short-term outlook is still tied to global economic trends, inflation, rates, volatility, geopolitics, foreign exchange, and tax or regulatory tweaks. Big swings for a bank that made 68% of its FY26 income overseas.
Wednesday’s trade faces a quick test: can gains from Tuesday stick after the dividend adjustment and jitters across the market? Oil, bond yields, and new news out of the Middle East stay front-and-center in the action.
