"You need to stay with strength": James Gerrish's top calls from reporting season

Please note, this interview was recorded on Friday, 28 August.

After a reporting season characterised by some extraordinary share price moves, Market Partners' Portfolio Manager James Gerrish believes one part of the market stands above the rest: commodities.

Resources have helped underpin earnings growth across the Australian market, and powerful market dynamics, including an expected copper deficit, suggest that strength could continue.

“You need to stay with strength… the commodity sector to me looks particularly strong at the moment, and I don't see any reason why that'll not continue to be strong over the coming 12 months.”

Market Partners is backing that view in its portfolios. It's overweight commodities, remains particularly bullish on copper and recently added a lithium heavyweight to its large-cap growth strategy.

But reporting season also threw up opportunities elsewhere.

In our final reporting season wrap for August 2026, Gerrish joins me to explain why WiseTech is finally looking like good value, why investors should wait before buying Endeavour Group, and why beaten-down banks could be becoming interesting again.

He also reveals the stock he bought ahead of its result - and the consumer favourite he sold after getting the call wrong - while suggesting Westpac shareholders could be in for a treat via a potential special dividend.

Stocks covered

• WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC)
• Endeavour Group (ASX: EDV)
• SiteMinder (ASX: SDR)
• Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR)
• Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS )
• South32 (ASX: S32)
• Westpac (ASX: WBC)
• JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH)
• Mirvac (ASX: MGR)
  
• Stockland (ASX: SGP)

SUMMARY

Gerrish's verdict on August reporting season is relatively straightforward.

“Solid. Not spectacular, but solid-ish.”

At the index level, earnings per share grew around 11%, but Gerrish says that strength has largely been underpinned by mining companies.

Elsewhere, the picture is much patchier. The Australian consumer remains constrained by higher rates and cost-of-living pressures, while Gerrish believes FY27 trading updates have often mattered more to investors than the FY26 numbers themselves.

That has left him favouring businesses with strong operational performance and powerful structural tailwinds, and right now, many of those are in commodities.

Commodities: “You need to stay with strength”

Gerrish says there is still plenty of “sogginess” in the Australian economy, making businesses heavily reliant on domestic conditions less appealing. As such, metals and mining offer something different.

Market Partners is overweight the sector, with copper a particular focus. Gerrish sees two powerful demand drivers: global electrification and the explosive growth in AI infrastructure, both of which require enormous amounts of the metal.

At the same time, supply remains constrained, setting the stage for an expected deficit in the global copper market.

“The global copper market is moving towards net deficit, so copper prices should track higher.”

That thesis is reflected in several of the stocks Gerrish likes coming out of reporting season.

Sandfire: "Great assets that are now producing very well"

Sandfire Resources delivered a bumper result, with earnings and profits surging, the balance sheet moving into net cash and shareholders receiving a 35-cent fully franked dividend.

"SandFire's got a couple of great assets that are now producing very well. In years gone by they've had a few challenges operationally, but they've really got their book in order - and then they've got the copper price tailwind."

The catch is valuation - the stock is on a trailing P/E of nearly 22 times. 

After a strong run and a breakout to new highs, Gerrish wouldn't necessarily chase Sandfire at current prices.

“You'd probably wait to buy it on a dip, but it's definitely one of the copper plays here in Australia that we're going to continue to own over the coming years.”

The lithium stock he just bought

Copper isn't the only commodity attracting Gerrish's attention.

After an enormous boom and bust, lithium is beginning to look interesting again.

Lithium prices rallied before pulling back as investors worried that mothballed production could return to the market. Gerrish believes much of that concern has now worked its way through the sector and lithium stocks have established a better base.

That prompted Market Partners to make a new addition to its large-cap growth strategy.

“The most recent acquisition we've made in our large-cap growth strategy, that's buying Pilbara Minerals.”

Gerrish believes the company's latest result was strong and sees renewed opportunity in a sector that has been through a dramatic reset.

He also highlighted South32, praising its decision to sell aluminium assets and increase its focus on higher-growth copper exposure.

WiseTech: “I actually think it is good value”

Away from commodities, one of the most interesting results came from beaten-down technology heavyweight WiseTech.

Its result was received poorly by investors, with growth from the core CargoWise platform of around 11% falling short of market expectations of roughly 15%.

Guidance also pointed towards slower growth ahead, but Gerrish believes there is another side to the story - cost reductions and greater use of AI are helping WiseTech improve profitability, and Gerrish believes that is beginning to show through in its earnings.

“I actually think it is good value at this current point in time.”

SiteMinder: “I actually like that one here”

SiteMinder presents a similar story.

The hotel software company had previously targeted average recurring revenue growth of around 30%, but has now stepped back from that ambition and is guiding towards 20-29%.

That reset disappointed investors, but Gerrish believes expectations have now been recalibrated.

Like WiseTech, the focus is shifting towards delivering greater profitability alongside more moderate growth.

“Maybe a little bit less growth, but maybe a little bit more profitability moving forward is probably the focus here.”

Endeavour: “I'd probably be waiting for that turnaround to get some traction

Gerrish is far less enthusiastic about Endeavour Group.

The owner of Dan Murphy's, BWS and a substantial hotels portfolio is attempting a turnaround at the same time as Australians – particularly younger generations – are drinking less.

For Gerrish, that represents a structural rather than simply cyclical problem.

“When you think about investing, you want to buy stocks with the greatest tailwinds and try to avoid stocks with the greatest headwinds.”

Still, he acknowledges Endeavour's turnaround is beginning to gain some traction, with sales momentum looking reasonable heading into FY27.

Property and banks: Starting to look interesting

Outside commodities, Gerrish is also beginning to see opportunities emerge in two beaten-down parts of the market: property and the banks.

He says reporting season provided enough evidence to suggest the property sector may be starting to find a base, pointing to Mirvac and Stockland, which are expecting growth in FY27 when the market had been anticipating none.

“I saw enough in some of the property results to think that that sector is starting to find a base.”

The banks are another area where Gerrish thinks investors should be careful about becoming too bearish.

Most of the majors have fallen sharply amid concerns about slowing loan applications and the impact of recent tax and Budget changes. Gerrish acknowledges those headwinds, but cautions against becoming “super negative” after the sell-off.

His preferred pick at current levels is Westpac - the bank has excess capital on its balance sheet, and Gerrish sees the possibility of a special dividend when it reports in November.

“I'd much prefer to buy Westpac here than Endeavour Group on the expectation or the possibility they'll pay a special at the next time they report.”

The stock he sold after getting it wrong

Not every reporting season call went Gerrish's way.

Market Partners bought JB Hi-Fi a couple of months ago, believing investors had become too pessimistic about the Australian consumer. But reporting season showed consumers remain constrained by higher rates and cost-of-living pressures.

That prompted Gerrish to cut his losses.

“We've sold JB Hi-Fi after their results, so we lost money on that one.”

That’s a wrap!

And with that, reporting season is done for another six months.

A huge thank you to everyone who followed our coverage and the Market Index live blog throughout August, and to all the fund managers, analysts and company executives who joined us to break down the biggest results.

Until February!

In case you missed them, here are some of our highlights from the season:

• How high can BHP go? Plus uranium, lithium and copper commodity charts and ASX sector reviews
• Codan profit rose 69%. The biggest risk? World peace
• BHP CFO Vandita Pant on dividends, copper growth and the next 18 months
• CSL rallies 18% on earnings beat – but is the worst finally behind it?
• The market punished Life360. Its CEO says the growth story is far from over
• CBA posts big profit – is there any value for investors?