Buy Hold Sell: 5 ASX results the market might have missed, but you shouldn't

While the aggregate numbers suggest this August reporting season hasn’t been as volatile as previous ones - at least when looking at average share price moves on beats and misses - several big-name stocks have experienced outsized reactions.

CSL (ASX: CSL), Woolworths ASX: WOW) and James Hardie (ASX: JHX) were punished, while Coles (ASX: COL), Brambles (ASX: BXB) and REA Group (ASX: REA) fared far better. Such sharp swings among large-cap “reliable” names have made the season feel more unpredictable than usual, particularly since these are the stocks investors typically buy for stability.

They are also companies that dominate headlines and, understandably, get a lot of coverage. However, that also means that there are likely many companies beyond the headlines that delivered solid results, which the market might have overlooked. 

In this episode, Livewire’s Anna Dadic is joined by Ben Rundle from Hayborough Investment Partners and Joe McCarthy from Elston Asset Management to run the ruler over three ASX names that quietly delivered strong results.

For good measure, they each nominate another stock that may have flown under the radar - one they believe offers a compelling buying opportunity.

Please note this episode was filmed on 27 August, 2025.

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Edited Transcript

Anna Dadic: Hello and welcome to Livewire's Buy Hold Sell. My name is Anna Dadic. Whilst the big names and big movers dominate headlines, there's always a handful of solid results that fly under the radar. Today, we're taking a closer look at five companies that delivered the goods, but the market perhaps isn't paying close attention to. To help me do that, I'm joined by Joe McCarthy from Elston and Ben Rundle from Hayborough. Welcome gents.

#1. Pinnacle Investment Management (ASX: PNI)

Anna Dadic: Pinnacle is a financial services company providing distribution and other services for a handful of fund management businesses. Ben, I'll come to you first. Is it a buy, hold, or sell?

Ben Rundle: (BUY) I think Pinnacle is a buy, particularly given the share price has pulled back a little bit. The power of their distribution network is just so strong, and that's driving a lot of talent towards the business. That lifecycle partnership they did, I think it was in 2024, has already got to a huge amount of FUM, and that ends up being a cycle that kind of feeds on itself and will continue to drive success for Pinnacle. So it's a buy from me.

Anna Dadic: Joe, PNI reported way back on 5th of August, and whilst there was a positive reaction to the results, the share price is now trading back to where it was prior to the release. So, is it a buy, hold, or sell for you?

Joe McCarthy: (HOLD) Look, it's a hold, and I'd have to agree with Ben. It's a great funds management platform. It's really well run. They've also shown that they're more than just Hyperion, which is, I guess, probably their original brand.

But you look at these levels, so valuation-wise, there's a lot of growth priced in there, and they really need to deliver on it. As you look at the business over time, as it becomes more diversified across asset classes and manager styles, you rarely see an environment where they're all correlated positively like this. We think it just gets a bit tougher from here.

#2. ARB Corporation (ASX: ARB) 

Anna Dadic: So next up, we're taking a look at ARB Corporation, maker of 4WD accessories. This one was a market darling in 2020 and 2021, where the share price went from $10 to $50. Joe, staying with you, is it a buy, hold, or sell?

Joe McCarthy: (HOLD) We really like the Australian business, great brand, great products, maybe a bit of competition coming in. What we're more concerned about, and this is really the story with this business, is the US expansion and what we see as being the difficulty there is that it's a more price-sensitive market.

And from what we can see, they're more focused on the look rather than the functionality, which is really their strong suit at ARB. In addition to that, you've got the tariffs, and that adds another layer of complexity for that business there.

Anna Dadic: Ben, the ARB share price is down around 5% over the past year. Is this one offering any value - buy, hold, or sell for you?

Ben Rundle: (BUY) Joe makes some very good points on the US business. The company has been through a pretty difficult time of the last couple of years, which a lot of it's been industry-driven. I think we're coming to the end of that. And sort of adding to my bullishness, I guess, is actually probably the US business, where they did acquire the four-wheel parts business. I think that they'll have great success with that, and it's a big market over there. So I think ARB is a buy.

#3. HUB24 (ASX: HUB) 

Anna Dadic: I spoke with CEO Andrew Alcock last week, and he talked about record net flows and advisor growth. Ben is at a buy, hold, or sell for you?

Ben Rundle: (HOLD) HUB is a hold for us. Look, it's a fantastic business. I think these disruptions have done such a good job in taking market share from the incumbents. The share price for HUB has been driven not only by its earnings but also by multiple expansion, and that multiple has just become a little bit too heady for me to call it a buy. So I'll stick with a hold. I think it needs to tread water for a little while.

Anna Dadic: Joe, the HUB share price has crushed it over the past year, up almost 100%. Is this one getting too ritzy? Is it a buy, hold, or sell for you?

Joe McCarthy: (HOLD) Yeah. Look, for us, it's a hold. And agree with Ben. They've done a great job. In terms of business, it's very high-performing, generating a lot of flows. They've positioned it well, they've executed well. But the real unsung hero here is the advisers, as they ultimately drive the flows. And they've done a great job since the Royal Commission, really showing value to clients, and that's where all these flows have come from. Now, when we look forward, you've got the retirement income covenant coming in.

Some of the platforms - their competitors appear to be a bit more advanced in developing solutions for that. And what's going to drive the flows in the future is what allows them to add the most value for the clients. And that's where it gets a bit tricky.

Anna Dadic: Okay, we've run the ruler over some of the under-the-radar results from the season, but now it's time for the guests to weigh in with their top pick of a company with decent results that the market might have missed. Joe, I'm going to start with you. What's your pick?

Guest picks

Joe McCarthy: For us, it'd be Cochlear (ASX: COH), and it's one where over the last 24 months, it got a bit ahead of expectations, and it's come back a bit and consolidated here. What we've seen now is they've come out with a new Nucleus Nexa system, and we think that's going to significantly improve the recipient experience.

In addition to that, it solves a big issue in the audiologist industry where there are significant backlogs. It makes it a lot more efficient for them to treat the recipients, and we think that enables the next leg of growth.

Anna Dadic: Ben, what's your pick?

Ben Rundle: I think Hansen Technologies (ASX: HSN) looks really good here. So Hansen is a software company providing technology to utilities and communications businesses. The guidance that they put out for FY26 confused the market a little bit, and I think that's created the opportunity in it. I think that guidance is particularly conservative. I think that this management team has a huge amount of experience in the business.

They have tier-one clients, numerous acquisitions to look at, and a very long history of being able to integrate those acquisitions. It's on a fairly reasonable multiple if you even look at what the rest of the sector's on. So I think you've got a great management team at a reasonable price and probably higher earnings growth than what the market thinks.

Anna Dadic: Well, that's all we have time for today. Thanks to our guests, Joe and Ben. If you enjoyed that episode of Buy Hold Sell, give it a like, and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll release new content every week.