Rudi's View | 10:00 AM
Prior to war breaking out in the Middle East, corporate results in February delivered plenty of positive news.
By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor
A Season Of Large Cap Winners
By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor
February 2026 was hands down the best corporate results season in Australia since the post covid-peak in 2022.
It has inspired already positive-minded UBS strategist Richard Schellbach to lift his year-end target for the ASX200 to 9400 from 8900 prior.
Many key statistics for the season support such positive sentiment; the number of result 'beats' outnumbered 'misses' by two-to-one, while guidance upgrades outnumbered downgrades by three-to-one. Aggregate EPS growth for the ASX200 has risen to 13.6% from 11.3% at the end of January.
Six months ago those forecasts stood at 3%. The last time aggregate EPS growth had been positive in Australia was mid-2022. All three subsequent fiscal years ended with a net negative growth outcome.
Large Cap Winners Dominate
Australia's key index, the ASX200, gained 3.7% throughout February, carried by mostly positive results from banks, led by CommBank ((CBA)), and by the broader mining sector, led by BHP Group ((BHP)). Both sector leaders --and local market heavyweights-- saw their forecast-beating performances rewarded with rallying share prices.
February's most obvious milestone was a fresh all-time record high, set at 9198.60, just before US and Israeli bombs landed on Tehran, on the final day of the month. Underneath that achievement is the observation the combined index weight of CommBank and BHP has never been higher than it is today (20%-plus).
That will make some investors a bit more wary.
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