Next Week At A Glance – 19 – 23 Oct 2026

This story features ELECTRO OPTIC SYSTEMS HOLDINGS LIMITED, and other companies.
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The company is included in ASX200, ASX300 and ALL-ORDS

A brief look at important company events and economic data releases next week.

For a more comprehensive preview of next week’s events, please refer to “The Monday Report”, published each Monday morning. For all economic data release dates, ex-div dates and times and other relevant information, please refer to the FNArena Calendar.

The week that was in Australian finance:

• Depending on how your portfolio is positioned, the last week may have seemed like a bed of roses, versus the other side of the ledger. The ASX200 looks set to be up over 0.7% for the week, but remains broadly flat for the year-to-date.

• Under the surface, it has been a roller coaster ride of volatility across sectors, factors and thematics. This week, the Big Banks provided support, as investor momentum flowed back in ahead of the usually positive cum-dividend season.

• Financials rallied almost 3%, even general sentiment remains negative on the sector against a challenging macro and competitive backdrop. But dividends are dividends, and the banks are also beneficiaries of ASX200 ETF inflows.

• Materials, conversely, took a hit, down -2%-plus, as the AI trade wobbled and US inflation reared its head, spooking the commodity beneficiaries of the AI infrastructure build-out; think copper for one.

• Overall, as the Middle East war continues, with no let up in high oil prices and inflationary pressures, the AI trade and technology took it on the chin.

• While some pointed to the failure of the Firmus IPO and the pulling of the AirTrunk REIT listing in Singapore, others pointed to the sell-off in memory stocks as the canary in the AI coal mine. High-risk neocloud CoreWeave’s debt is trading at distressed levels.

• The sell-off had a whiff of deleveraging about it, a la Situational Awareness, with a robust bounce that followed the next day. No doubt more will be known down the track.

• On the macro front, September labour data came out weaker than expected, but economists point to the September quarter CPI print on 28 October as the key factor for the RBA’s rate hike decision on 3 November.

• The risk-off move by investors was evident, with Staples up almost 3%, with Healthcare and Utilities also rallying. Higher oil prices boosted Energy.

• Real Estate, Materials and InfoTech weakened.

• The US was dominated again by politics and higher inflationary and producer price data, with commentators questioning the earnings growth outlook.

• Ed Yardeni remarked, “On September 15, we advised our readers to ‘Proceed With Caution.’ We postponed our year-end S&P 500 target of 8,400 to mid-2027. Our concern isn’t earnings; it’s stock valuations.”

The team at FNArena wishes you a great weekend.

Corporate news in the week that was:

• Electro Optic Systems ((EOS)) secures a $700m Middle Eastern counter-drone contract, with most revenue expected in the first two years after the contract becomes unconditional
• Ray Dalio and the Bell family sell six Riverina farms to Banyandah Pastoral for $300m as they wind up their agricultural investment platform
• Justin Levis and Brand Collective submit competing proposals to rescue Cue and Veronika Maine from administration
• Ebos Group ((EBO)) reportedly attracts private equity takeover interest, with investment bankers sounding out potential buyers following share price weakness
• GenesisCare’s private equity owners consider a sale or stock market relisting, with Jefferies Australia advising on the options
• Firmus abandons its proposed $8bn ASX IPO amid subdued investor demand, turning to private funding and potentially a Nasdaq listing
• Maas Group ((MGH)) retains $1.1bn in Firmus contracts despite the abandoned IPO, as tensions with CDC and concerns over valuation and growth prospects emerge
• Guzman y Gomez ((GYG)) reaffirms FY27 guidance following strong 1Q sales growth and extends its share buyback by up to $100m
• Glencore, ahead of its ASX-listing, has not ruled out another merger attempt with Rio Tinto ((RIO))
• Warburg Pincus-backed Princeton Digital agrees to pay $300m for ESR’s Melbourne data centre, assuming the associated leasing risk.
• Equity Trustees ((EQT)) agrees to acquire 100% of L1 Group’s ((L1G)) Platinum Investment Management, expanding its fund-trustee services business
• Treasury Wine Estates ((TWE)) sells Rosemount and two other wine brands back to the Oatley family
• RAM acquires Sydney’s Arcadia Pittwater Private Hospital from Dexus’ ((DXS)) healthcare property fund
• Janus Henderson seeks a private equity partner for a potential $2bn takeover of Perpetual ((PPT)) and a buyer for its trustee business
• IREN shares rise on an unconfirmed report of a multi-year cloud deal with Anthropic
• Coatue reportedly cuts its Firmus IPO commitment to below US$100m, contributing to the collapse of the proposed ASX float
• Glencore prepares for its ASX debut on October 14, seeking to attract Australian investors and narrow its valuation discount to BHP Group ((BHP))
• Lennox Capital Partners reportedly marked up its Firmus stake to the proposed $11 IPO price shortly before the float collapsed, raising questions over a potential valuation reversal
• Maas Group ((MGH)) shares fall for a second consecutive session following the withdrawal of the Firmus IPO
• Partners Group splits its $10.6bn private equity fund to facilitate investor redemptions amid liquidity pressures
• Stonepeak explores a $150m listed infrastructure debt trust targeting returns 3.5%–4% points above swap rates
• Dexus ((DXS)) considers asset sales, restructuring or winding down its $1.1bn healthcare fund after 90% of investors seek to exit
• DayOne, a key Firmus construction partner, discloses worker fatalities, water-related protests and other risks in its US IPO filing, with Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Bank of America among the underwriters
• Arena REIT ((ARF)) agrees to sell additional Edge Early Learning childcare properties following the operator’s rental default and administration
• Pacific Equity Partners, Orix and Sumitomo Corp prepare final bids for vehicle-leasing group FleetPartners ((FPR))
• Telstra Group ((TLS)) closely monitors SpaceX’s mobile expansion following its spectrum acquisition, which strengthens Starlink’s competitive position
• Gold Fields seeks to revive its near $40bn takeover of Northern Star Resources ((NST)) with a higher cash component, an ASX listing and potential asset sales
• Fidante defends marking up the Lennox fund’s Firmus investment to the anticipated $11 IPO price ahead of the subsequently withdrawn ASX listing
• Ellerston remains positive on Firmus’ growth prospects and a potential Nasdaq IPO in 2027 following the withdrawal of its planned ASX listing
• Glencore begins its ASX listing with an expected local market capitalisation below $500m, making index inclusion a longer-term objective
• Thoma Bravo prepares Nearmap for a potential ASX relisting at a valuation above $5.75bn, appointing Goldman Sachs and Barrenjoey Capital Partners ((MFG)) to advise on the IPO
• Senator Dave Sharma calls for ASIC to investigate the collapse of Firmus’ IPO amid concerns over disclosure, investor demand and book building
• Wiluna secures $180m in IPO commitments, paving the way for the gold miner’s return to the ASX
• Insurance Australia Group ((IAG)) offers public-benefit concessions in an attempt to overturn the ACCC’s rejection of its proposed -$1.4bn acquisition of RAC Insurance
• Domino’s Pizza Enterprises ((DMP)) risks losing international operating rights as its US parent considers reallocating underperforming markets to other operators
• Cosette Pharmaceuticals loses its appeal over the failed $600m acquisition of Mayne Pharma, with the court upholding the ruling and ordering Cosette to pay legal costs
• Austal ((ASB)) extends Hanwha’s due diligence period while assessing competing proposals from Hanwha and Wildcat Infrastructure for its US business
• Orora ((ORA)) faces shareholder scrutiny over the weak performance of Saverglass following its -US$2.2bn acquisition but avoids a second strike against executive remuneration
• Andrew Roberts sells a 30% stake in property funds manager Corval Partners to Scarcity Partners to support expansion
• OKX Australia launches pre-IPO perpetual futures for OpenAI and Anthropic, offering wholesale investors leveraged exposure to their implied valuations
• Forsyth Barr seeks international investment banking alliances as Barrenjoey’s ((MFG)) expansion into New Zealand increases competition
• M Battery Materials, backed by Matt Latimore, targets a $15m–$25m ASX IPO to develop Australian graphite anode and vanadium supply chains
• Glencore ((GLC)) closes its first day of ASX trading at a 1.6% premium to its primary London listing
• Neara acquires Zepben to integrate electrical and physical grid modelling into its digital twin platform
• TPG acquires a 14.9% stake in EQT Holdings ((EQT)) amid competing takeover bids from TPG and BGH Capital
• Warburg Pincus sets a deadline for Ingenia Communities ((INA)) to consider its best-and-final takeover offer of $5.25 per share
• Treasury Wine Estates ((TWE)) rules out fire-sale disposals as it rationalises its portfolio to around 35 brands from 75
• KKR, I Squared Capital and Morrison compete for Lineage’s Asia-Pacific operations in an auction valued at around $2bn
• PRM acquires the Australian operations of Austria’s Swietelsky to expand its rail business into Australia’s east coast
• AIM Mining appoints Canaccord Genuity and Euroz Hartleys to explore a potential IPO valued at over $1bn
• Morse Micro converts to a public company and appoints advisers ahead of a potential ASX IPO
• Firmus backer suggests a potential Nasdaq IPO could deliver greater value than its abandoned $44bn ASX listing
• Paradice Investment Management plans to return $700m to major institutional investors from its small-cap fund to improve investment flexibility and performance

For a calendar of earnings result releases and a summary of earnings results to date, refer to FNArena’s Corporate Results Monitor (https://www.fnarena.com/index.php/reporting_season/)

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