Buy Hold Sell: 6 ASX large cap leaders and laggards

Another reporting season is behind us and now all that's left to do is assess the fallout.

In this special reporting season edition of Buy Hold Sell, I'm joined by Joe Wright from Airlie Funds Management and Charles Story from WaveStone Capital to assess the large cap winners and losers from reporting season, and some other large cap picks that the market may have missed. 

Please note this episode was filmed on 2 September 2026.

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Episode summary

Here's a summary of all the stock calls, key verdicts and choice quotes. If you want the full transcript, you can download it via the link at the bottom of the wire.

WINNERS

1.  CSL (ASX: CSL)

Joe Wright's rating: HOLD

His verdict: Got too cheap but medium-term risks stop it from being a buy.

What he said: "We actually exited it and then it got too cheap, frankly, bought back in. The result was fine. Gordon Naylor’s done a decent job steadying the ship, Behring expectations had reduced so much and they were finally met."

Charles Story's rating: BUY

His verdict: Still a low PE for a quality business.

What he said: "We think management's doing quite a good job. It's a new management team. They're taking cost out. They're making very commercial decisions. The stock's now rerated back to 19 times. However, we think going forward from here, they'll be able to demonstrate high single digit EPS growth going forward and there's further opportunity for a PE rerate."

2. BHP GROUP (ASX: BHP)

Charles Story's rating: HOLD

His verdict: Big earnings tailwinds but already rerated too much.

What he said: "They really paid a whopper dividend at the result and that was a real highlight. And they were able to do that because six months ago they sold some of their silver exposure for $4.3 billion. That allowed their gearing and their net debt to come in at $9 billion."

Joe Wright's rating: HOLD

His verdict: A well-run company but better value elsewhere.

What he said: "It's all about valuation here. That makes it a hold. It's probably almost a sell. As Charles said, the management team has done a fantastic job over the past five years and we don't think that's going to change. They run the assets well. They've allocated capital well."

"They're getting the most out of their portfolio by swinging it in favour of these future facing metals at a time when commodity prices are very strong. It's just on 19 times PE. It's rerated a lot. We just see better opportunities elsewhere."

3. REA Group (ASX: REA)

Joe Wright's rating: BUY

His verdict: An attractive multiple and a good runway for earnings growth. 

What he said: "We like it. We think the new management team are excellent. Cam McIntyre has a fantastic track record from his days at CAR Group. We think that'll come through again at REA, sensible capital allocation. They're being disciplined on costs. They're simplifying the portfolio again. They're pricing for value. And so we see a good runway for earnings growth over the next five years."

Charles Story's rating: BUY

His verdict: Great ROE and strong earnings growth. 

What he said: "It's one of the highest quality businesses on the ASX. It's got an ROE of 30%."

"We can see mid-teens EPS growth for the next three years per annum. So that's what excites us. There was also fear on top of the SaaSpocalypse that Domain would come in under new foreign ownership and act a bit irrationally and maybe try and take market share. We're not seeing irrational behaviour from them so far."

LOSERS

1. Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA)

Charles Story's rating: HOLD

His verdict: A strong top line and well-positioned but still too rich to buy. 

What he said: "The issue with the result was the market's now concerned that as we go into 27, revenue's peaked and it's starting to slow. So we think revenue will probably be around 2 to 3% next year. Matt Comyn and the management team are doing a fantastic job, but the issue is the credit growth is starting to slow."

Joe Wright's rating: SELL

His verdict: Advantages over competitors but no value to be seen. 

What he said: "For us, again, it's about valuation. Home lending is becoming more competitive, business banking's going to become more competitive. ROEs already aren't very high for the industry. At mid 20s PE, we don't see value and we actually see better value in the financial space itself."

2. BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL)

Joe Wright's rating: BUY

His verdict: A good result and clear path to great returns. 

What he said: "This business is trading on 10% div yield. You're going to get probably close to five bucks out of it over the next 18 months. There's a 15% return right there. And while North America might be over-earning, we think the rest of the business is actually under earning. You overlay a fantastic balance sheet, fantastic management team, and remember a bid for the company that came a few bucks higher than the share price is now and we don't see much downside."

Charles Story's rating: SELL

His verdict: Price margins normalising could hit the share price. 

What he said: "If we look at the US margin, it was about $800 a tonne. We think mid-cycle is closer to 400-500. Maybe there's an argument it can be a little bit higher than that going forward, but that's been the historical."

"We think that the market's capitalising those higher margins in the US into the future. And we think that when they normalise a bit, we're going to see the share price erode a bit."

3. Telstra (ASX: TLS)

Charles Story's rating: BUY

His verdict: A few worries but solid earnings growth going forward. 

What he said: "In the near term and in the medium term, we think Telstra is going to maintain its competitive advantage, maintain its pricing power. And look, the jewel in the crown is a mobile business and it's doing really well at the moment. And that is being driven by Telstra raising prices and the market following Telstra. They've done a great job in the low end of the mobile market raising prices."

Joe Wright's rating: HOLD

His verdict: A fairly priced market leader. 

What he said: "Telstra has a dominant position and it probably can't get any better. But as Charles said, the mobile business continues to perform really well. It's not expensive. It's a fairly simple story in that sense."

GUEST PICKS

1. Insurance Australia Group (ASX: IAG) - Joe's pick

Joe Wright's rating: BUY

His verdict: Better value than the banks.

What he said: "They are Australia and New Zealand's largest personal lines insurer. It's a fairly disciplined market. They have huge market share. While that market share maybe gets slightly eroded over time, the returns are still very solid. The business trades in 17 times PE, 4.5% div yield."

2. Magellan Financial Group (ASX: MFG) - Charles' pick

Charles Story's rating: BUY

His verdict: The next Macquarie Group with strong earnings growth potential. 

What he said: "These are people businesses - and it allows them to attract and maintain the very best quality fund managers in the industry. And we've seen Barrenjoey do that and we're really excited about what the future will look like with these two businesses together and that really high quality management team and investment personnel that we see. 

"So the PE multiple has come back from mid-teens down to 11 to 12 times once we strip out a very strong cash balance. And they have been constrained, Barrenjoey, with deploying capital. And now we see they've got a very big cash balance post the transaction. We think they're going to deploy that capital in a very sensible manner with high quality returns."