Corporate earnings season has showcased the immense strength and resilience of the traditional pillars of the economy – mining, resources and banking – and revealed some light at the end of the tunnel for sectors hit hardest, such as travel and aviation.

Along the way, some lockdown heroes have been crunched at the first sign of a return to normal crimping their earnings, or at least had a slip of the halo as accumulated challenges of managing strained supply chains and elevated stocks amid successive waves of COVID-19 lockdowns take their toll.