TOL - 1st Sep, 2025
Buy Hold Sell: Reporting season winners, losers and 2 ASX stocks to watch
From beats to blow-ups: Ben Rundle (Hayborough) and Joe McCarthy (Elston) unpack reporting season’s key results and themes
Reporting season is always full of surprises, and this one didn’t disappoint.
Some companies smashed expectations, sending share prices soaring, while others stumbled badly and left investors wondering what went wrong. And then, of course, there were the quiet achievers, delivering solid results without making much noise.
To help us cut through the chaos, Livewire's Anna Dadic is joined by Ben Rundle from Hayborough Investment Partners and Joe McCarthy from Elston Asset Management.
Together, they examine the key themes from the season, including some of the best, worst, and under-the-radar results, and - perhaps most importantly - whether they are making any portfolio adjustments.
Strap in, there's plenty to cover.
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. Well, reporting season always throws some curveballs, and this time was no different. So which companies nailed it? Which companies fumbled? What were the major themes, and what can investors do about them? To find out, I'm joined by Ben Rundle from Hayborough, and Joe McCarthy from Elston. Welcome, gents.
Reporting season in one word
Anna Dadic: If you could only use one word to describe the result season, what would it be and why? I'll start with you, Ben.
Ben Rundle: I think, actually, this result season is quite bullish. We have been through a couple recently where the good results weren't rewarded, but the bad results were really punished and it was very hard in that environment to make money. This reporting season has been a little bit different. The companies that have reported really strongly, the share prices have done really well. And on top of that, you've seen some share prices, which initially fell quite sharply, but then rebounded fairly strongly. They're fairly bullish signs to me. So bullish is probably the word I'd use to describe it.
Anna Dadic: Joe?
Joe McCarthy: Yeah, we'd see it as more of a volatile reporting season. So, a similar story where you had companies that were missing expectations, and they were punished pretty severely.
Common headwinds and tailwinds
Anna Dadic: Were there any headwinds or tailwinds that you continuously heard on results calls? Joe, I'll start with you.
Joe McCarthy: Probably the biggest headwind would obviously be the tariffs. And then in addition to that, you've got the potential rate cuts and the latter of which should be pretty good for your more defensive names.
Anna Dadic: Okay. Ben?
Ben Rundle: Tailwinds - the consumer sounded pretty strong, certainly in the homeware department, such as Nick Scali (ASX: NCK) and Temple & Webster (ASX: TPW), but also in other areas like Super Retail (ASX: SUL) and Baby Bunting (ASX: BBN). Headwinds, look, there was a bit of cost growth, and the US housing market sounds like it's pretty tough, too.
The quiet achievers
Anna Dadic: Was there a result that the market missed that impressed you? Ben, what's your choice?Aussie Broadband (ASX: ABB)
Ben Rundle: I don't know if the market missed it, but it did impress me. It was the result from Aussie Broadband. So they had a great FY25. The FY26 guidance number they put out there was really strong. They also, in conjunction with the result, announced a wholesale agreement too. And I initially reacted thinking that was the reason for the strong outlook, but that actually won't contribute until the outer years. So the underlying business is actually doing a lot better than I thought. And it's been a big trailer behind Superloop as well. So that was a result that impressed me, and I think they've got a couple of good years of earnings growth ahead.
Anna Dadic: Okay. Joe, how about you?
Car Group (ASX: CAR)
Joe McCarthy: Yeah, so for us, it was probably Car Sales, that really impressed us. It was a bit of a softer environment, but as strong results are a good reflection of the resilient earnings. In terms of the business and the outlook as well, there's a lot they can do there in terms of developing the business further, adding more modules, and they've got a really good track record of monetising that. And looking forward, we think that might be in the share price in the short term, but it's more the longer-dated earnings where that's not priced in.
The best of the season
Anna Dadic: In your view, what was the best result in August? Joe, what's your pick?Seek (ASX: SEK)
Joe McCarthy: A standout for us was Seek, and it's a result that's been a number of years in the making, and it's really just delivering on the improved yield growth, walking the talk on the cost control side of things. And from here, they've got a really good platform for growth, and many good years ahead of them.
Anna Dadic: Okay, Ben?
Zip Co (ASX: ZIP)
Ben Rundle: Best result that I saw was probably from Zip. Huge FY25. The guidance into FY26 is super strong. And actually, if you run rate the fourth quarter of last year, the guidance actually still looks soft. So they've got a huge market, growing margins, huge revenue growth, very hard to knock it.
Ben Rundle: James Hardie. Just a shocker. I mean, a lot of that was macro-driven in US housing, but on top of that, they also bought a business that polarised a lot of their investors recently, and that already looks to be underperforming at an early stage. So not surprisingly, the share price got whacked.
Anna Dadic: Joe, your choice?
ASX Limited (ASX: ASX)
Joe McCarthy: For us, it's ASX, and it wasn't the most dramatic reaction, but in terms of what was quite poor about it was that, as a monopoly business, they're in a very privileged position. And really, what they've got to do is control the controllables.
So in terms of the cost of the operations, neither of which seems to be being managed well. You look at the cost side of things, the last 10 years, the services that business offers hasn't really changed, but there are 73% more people and 150% more in cost, and there's not a lot to show for it. And the risk of a competitor being introduced is higher than ever. So from here, they really need to get that under control before we'd get that confident with them.
Portfolio shifts
Anna Dadic: Have you made any portfolio changes off the back of results season?
Joe McCarthy: No. Look, we're planning to, so you've had a couple of companies where the results were pretty severely punished, but having had a chance to speak to the companies and get the full story, we think it's a pretty significant overreaction, so it's about getting ready to add to those.
Anna Dadic: How about you, Ben?
Ben Rundle: I think we have had our quietest reporting season with regard to moving the portfolio around for a while. We have added incrementally to some positions like Bravura (ASX: BVS), Hansen (ASX: HSN), and PWR Holdings (ASX: PWH), but overall, it's been a pretty quiet trading period for us.
Anna Dadic: Well, that's all we have time for today. Thank you to Ben and Joe for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode of Buy Hold Sell, give it a like, and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We release new content every week.
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Buy Hold Sell is a weekly video series exclusive to Livewire. In each episode two fund managers give their views 'Buy, Hold or Sell' on five ASX listed companies. Not recommendations, please read the disclaimer and seek advice where appropriate.
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Livewire Markets
Buy Hold Sell is a weekly video series exclusive to Livewire. In each episode two fund managers give their views 'Buy, Hold or Sell' on five ASX listed companies. Not recommendations, please read the disclaimer and seek advice where appropriate.
Expertise
Livewire Markets
Buy Hold Sell is a weekly video series exclusive to Livewire. In each episode two fund managers give their views 'Buy, Hold or Sell' on five ASX listed companies. Not recommendations, please read the disclaimer and seek advice where appropriate.
Expertise
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