Buy Hold Sell: 6 high-conviction ASX stocks reimagining their industries

This episode was filmed Wednesday 22nd April, 2026. 

When Archimedes had that famous bath and watched the water rise, he didn't just solve a problem - he had one of history's great moments of innovation. A completely new way of seeing something that had always been there.

Investors are on a similar hunt. Figuring out the pure gold in the market, the companies that are genuinely reimagining their industries, the true innovators that have the potential to become the market leaders of tomorrow.  The trouble is, telling real innovation from a good story is hard at the best of times. And right now, with small and mid-caps taking a beating since the onset of the war in Iran, the market is anything but straightforward.

Do you chase macro tailwinds? Hunt for quality growth names that have been unfairly sold off? Or play it safe and wait for the dust to settle?

To help work through those questions and to find where the genuine "eureka!" moments might be, Anna Dadic is joined by Lucas Goode from IML and Ben Rundle from Hayborough Investment Partners to run the ruler over some stocks and share one high conviction pick for the year ahead.

Let's go find some gold! 

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Edited transcript

Anna Dadic: Hello and welcome to Livewire's Buy Hold Sell. I'm Anna Dadic. Aussie small and mid-caps started the year strong but have taken a beating since the onset of the war in Iran. So, is now the time to be hunting in this space, where often the most innovative companies live? And if so, where should you be looking?

To answer those questions and to analyse a handful of stocks, I'm joined by Lucas Goode of IML and Ben Rundle of Hayborough Investment Partners. I've also asked our guests to bring a high-conviction pick of their own for the year ahead.

Lucas, I'll start with you. What are the specific hallmarks of an innovative company that actually has the legs to become a market leader?

Lucas Goode: So look, innovation's the lifeblood of any company, large or small, but particularly in small caps where we're trying to find the leaders of tomorrow. As investors, we're always looking to skate where the puck is going, and we expect our portfolio companies to be doing the same thing.

So to my mind, an innovative company is one that has a clear strategic vision, capable management that can execute on that vision, a willingness to invest ahead of the curve in future growth, and a focus on building and retaining a competitive moat. I mean, after all, without a sustainable competitive advantage, companies can't sustainably generate excess returns, and they probably won't make great long-term investments.

Anna Dadic: Ben, as mentioned in the intro, small and mid-caps started the year okay but have since lagged. Where is a better hunting ground right now? Is it sticking with growth names that are on sale, or perhaps looking at names that are benefiting from the macro tailwinds?

Ben Rundle: I think making a macro call at the moment is even more difficult than what it usually is, which is still difficult. We tend to look at sectors on a company basis. So if you think about the technology sector, for example, we've had fears of AI absolutely decimate the sector, and then on top of that, we've had the war bring valuations further down, and that's brought the sector valuation down as a whole.

And when you see that happen, often you find underlying companies that are trading at very reasonable valuations. So I think it would be the former—to stick with the growth companies that are getting sold off purely based on what's going on, which doesn't have much to do with the actual companies themselves.

Anna Dadic: It looks like the macro is changing on a daily basis anyway, so it's very hard to keep track of.

Hansen Technologies (ASX: HSN) 

Anna Dadic: Okay, so let's run the ruler over some small and mid-cap stocks that are doing interesting or innovative things in their respective spaces right now. First up, we have Hansen Technologies. They've kicked off the year by completing their acquisition of Digitalk, fast-tracking their 5G and mobile services business. Lucas, is it a buy, hold, or sell for you?

Lucas Goode: (BUY) Look, definitely a buy for us, Anna. It's a big holding for us. I think Ben mentioned the broad-based sell-off in software—the so-called SaaSpocalypse—and Hansen's been caught up in all that.

But we strongly feel, after the first-half result, that Hansen has shown that it's actually an AI winner. They've already got AI products in market that are generating revenue. They're generating material cost efficiencies in product development from the usage of AI.

And you also take a step back and look at what Hansen does. I mean, this is billing software into highly regulated and complex customer bases. Their telco and utility customers literally can't generate revenue without Hansen's products. I mean, that's as mission-critical and sticky as it gets.

So we really think they're a winner from the whole AI revolution. And also, bringing it back to valuation, they're trading on 13 times free cash flow. They grew cash earnings 70% in the first half. There's a real mismatch there. It's one of the cheapest software stocks in the ASX. It's a core holding for us.

Anna Dadic: Ben, your take?

Ben Rundle: (BUY) Yeah, I agree with Lucas. It's hard to add too much to what he said, but it's a holding for us as well. I think it's a buy.

As Lucas points out, a lot of their customers are big, complex businesses, often highly regulated. They're not moving on from their software technologies that simply. And I actually think Hansen is doing a fantastic job and, to Lucas' point, will utilise AI rather than be threatened by it.

On top of that, the whole sector has seen valuations come down to a much more reasonable level. And part of Hansen's growth strategy has been to buy other software businesses and improve them. Now that they have a much more fertile hunting ground, they also have a really strong balance sheet to be able to execute on that. So I think that'll help drive their earnings going forward.

Nanosonics (ASX: NAN) 

Anna Dadic: Let's now go to the healthcare space with Nanosonics, a company that automates the disinfection of ultrasound probes. Ben, I'm going to stay with you. Is it a buy, hold, or sell?

Ben Rundle: (BUY) I think Nanosonics is a buy as well. They have a very strong, very impressive installed base with their existing business called Trophon. Over the last few years, they've spent a lot of money developing a new product called CORIS, which has taken longer than the market expected and has cost a lot of money.

But if you strip back the amount of money that they've spent on it and look at the Trophon business as a standalone unit, I think you're paying a very reasonable valuation for it, with CORIS being potential cream on the top. And I think they will be successful with that. I think it'll be a matter of when, not if.

So for the time being, I think you're getting a pretty reasonable valuation with potential growth upside to come.

Anna Dadic: Okay. Lucas, what's your take?

Lucas Goode: (HOLD) Look, it's a hold for us. I think Ben touched upon the fact that if you back out the CORIS startup losses, the core business looks to be trading on a sort of mid-teens EBITDA multiple, which is pretty reasonable for a franchise of Trophon's quality.

As Ben mentioned, they've got a lot of cash on the balance sheet. There's a buyback in place, so there's plenty to like about it. I guess the thing that keeps me on the fence is just that CORIS has had a few hiccups along the way, and we'd probably like to see a bit of traction with the new product before entering the stock.

Aussie Broadband (ASX: ABB) 

Anna Dadic: Okay, moving on to Aussie Broadband. They announced a target to become Australia's third-largest NBN provider by the end of the year—so lofty goals. Lucas, staying with you, what's your take?

Lucas Goode: (BUY) Aussie is a buy for us, Anna. It's a real quality growth-at-a-reasonable-price play for us. It's on around 18 times EPS FY27, which we model at 30% compound growth over the next couple of years. That looks very reasonable.

There's a lot of growth ahead of them from the Tangerine deal and continuing to take share in residential broadband, but there's also a real defensive element, given it is a telco—telcos being the original recurring revenue business.

We also think they've got a really interesting product stack within enterprise that no one else can really match, particularly vis-à-vis Superloop, which they're often compared to. We think Aussie's got a real competitive advantage there. So there's a lot to like about the business. It is a holding of ours. So yeah, definitely a buy.

Anna Dadic: Okay. Ben, how are you dialled into ABB?

Ben Rundle: (BUY) Yeah, I'll agree with Lucas and call it a buy as well. We have held it for a number of years now. The challenger brands—Aussie Broadband being one of them—have done a fantastic job of taking market share from the larger players and, even in the most recent numbers, still continue to do so.

It has a defensive earnings profile, with growth on the back of the recent AGL and more Tangerine wholesale deals. So I think it's pretty reasonable for what you're getting at the moment, so I'm happy to stick with a buy.

PWR Holdings (ASX: PWH) 

Anna Dadic: Okay, double buy. Finally, PWR Holdings, known for cooling Formula One cars, recently secured a follow-on contract for a US defence project. Ben, is it a buy, hold, or sell for you?

Ben Rundle: (HOLD) I think it's a fantastic company. I'm a huge fan of it. We do own it in a smaller way, just given the valuation. I think that it's probably just not warranting a buy at this stage.

They've got a huge amount of IP in the business. I think they'll continue to have wins in the aerospace and defence side of the business, which is where a lot of the upside is. It's just that the valuation at the moment is probably pricing in a little bit more of that than what I would like. So maybe a buy on a pullback, but a hold for now.

Anna Dadic: Okay. Lucas, what about you?

Lucas Goode: (SELL) Yeah, it's a sell for us on valuation grounds, Anna. I think Ben touched upon it. They've really done just a phenomenal job on the motorsports side, but growth in that segment looks a little more challenged going forward.

And with nearly a billion-dollar market cap, you're paying a lot for the potential upside in aerospace and defence, and it's a pretty long and rocky road. They've only got a few products that are actually approved in that space. There have been a string of earnings downgrades in recent years. At 45 times earnings, we just think that's a little too rich for what is a really good Australian business—a high-tech manufacturer—but just a little too rich for our liking.

Guest picks

Catapult Sports (ASX: CAT) 

Anna Dadic: We've analysed a handful of names. Now I've asked the gents to share a high-conviction pick of their own for the year ahead. Ben, what's your pick?

Ben Rundle: Look, I think Catapult. I think they're a very innovative company, sticking on topic. In 2020 or '21, they acquired a video analytics business, which they were then able to sell in combination with their core wearables product to the sports teams that they service.

That, I think, has made the Catapult products a lot more sticky. And one of the things that I think they've done well is increase the product functionality they can offer their clients before pulling the price lever and increasing prices on them.

And I think that the way their cost base is set up at the moment, a lot of the incremental revenue growth you'll see drop through to the bottom line. And even without growing their pricing, I think they can still achieve that. If they do get price increases on top of that, well, I think that's even cream over and above what the consensus numbers probably have in the stock at the moment.

Cobram Estate Olives (ASX: CBO) 

Anna Dadic: Lucas, what's your pick?

Lucas Goode: So I'm going to go a little bit left field. We've been talking about innovation, and often when we speak about innovation, people's minds naturally go towards technology, like with Catapult, for example.

The name I'm going to throw at you is Cobram Estate Olives. And the innovation here is really around how Cobram has essentially reimagined an entire industry.

So olive oil production out of the Mediterranean has traditionally been a very fragmented, pretty unproductive industry, where you had farmers picking fruit by hand, selling into processors who mix everything together, slap a brand label on it, and produce very varying quality.

Cobram has vertically integrated and industrialised that process at scale, in addition to innovation in agronomy and harvesting technology. And what they're able to do then is achieve branded food and beverage margins—premium margins—whilst also much higher productivity than the industry average.

We really love the transformational acquisition they recently made of California Olive Ranch. They now control around 75% of production in both Australia and the US, with just a massive multi-decade growth runway ahead of them.

If you just look at olive oil consumption in America, for example, the average American consumer uses about a litre of olive oil a year. In Italy and Spain, it's over 10 litres. So there's plenty of growth runway there for Cobram.

They are the largest player in the world in that industry. It's one that we just really like as a high-quality, long-term compounder on the ASX.

Anna Dadic: That's all we have time for today. A big thank you to Lucas and Ben for sharing their insights. If you enjoyed the episode, please head to our YouTube channel, give it a like, subscribe to our channel, and check out livewiremarkets.com.