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Earnings season

This Month

The market’s up but earnings are down. Is that about to change?

Earnings turning point gives ASX bears plenty to think about

Shares prices have raced away while company profits have gone backwards. What happens if earnings start going up, too?

  • Anthony Macdonald
From top: Seven Group’s Ryan Stokes, Woodside’s Meg O’Neill and Telstra’s Vicki Brady.

CEOs reveal how to fix the productivity problem

Business reckons it’s ready to invest to help bolster living standards for all Australians. It just needs some policy help.

  • Updated
  • James Thomson and Anthony Macdonald
How do you beat a market where the biggest investors seem to be able to keep buying their biggest stocks?

The existential risk Australia’s rock star investors are facing

If fund managers cannot work this one out, they could be gone before the problem gets a chance to fix itself. Small shareholders and even super funds would be worse off.

  • Anthony Macdonald
The banks have done their heavy lifting, the miners are waiting on China, so we need the underperformers to step up in 2025.

Dogs of the ASX need to find their bite

The banks ensured the Australian sharemarket made good money for investors in 2024. But we need changes to do it again this year.

  • Anthony Macdonald

December 2024

Qantas’ unravelling soon after reporting a record profit hangs over corporate Australia.

Political CEOs get tangled in their own red tape

Something has to give – and the coming year is the time for business to try to skew the balance back to a more even keel.

  • Anthony Macdonald
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November 2024

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare chief executive Lewis Gradon says new produts are driving earnings growth.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare misses market’s high earnings hopes

Investors were disappointed by the New Zealand group’s outlook despite a 43 per cent rise in net profits in the first six months of the financial year.

  • Michael Smith
Iren co-CEO Dan Roberts.

Bitcoin dividends? It’s possible, says Iren CEO

The chief executive of a Sydney-based, Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner says the company could issue its shareholders cryptocurrency dividends.

  • Tess Bennett
Web Travel managing director John Guscic reaffirmed earnings guidance and launched a buyback

Web Travel Group rebounds after result not as bad as feared

An embarrassing accounting hiccup sent Web Travel Group’s shares spiralling, but a $150m buyback has boosted investor spirits.

  • Updated
  • Ayesha de Kretser
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shows off one of the company’s AI accelerator chips for data centres during the recent Nvidia AI Summit in Japan.

Nvidia’s ‘godfather’ struggles to keep markets excited about AI miracles

The sharemarket simply shrugged as the company’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, unveiled more eye-watering earnings numbers.

  • Paul Smith
In the third quarter ended October 31, Walmart’s US comparable sales rose 5.3 per cent, beating analysts estimates of a 3.61 per cent increase, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Walmart lifts annual forecasts again, sees Trump tariff headwinds

Shares in the world’s largest retailer surged to a record high in New York, as it lured ever more affluent Americans to shop in-store and online.

  • Ananya Mariam Rajesh and Aishwarya Venugopal
TechnologyOne CEO Ed Chung.

Investors cheer TechnologyOne’s earnings surprise

Shares in the Brisbane-based enterprise software firm soared on evidence a new sales model and UK growth were helping it take on giants like SAP.

  • Paul Smith
Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has become a market favourite.

The ‘simple’ secret to how Xero’s CEO became an ASX favourite

In under two years, Xero boss Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has won the market over with her clear strategy and some huge share price gains.

  • James Thomson
Xero chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy last year.

Xero shares hit record despite subscription growth slowing

The company reported a 50 per cent increase in operating earnings over the six months to June 30 and $900 million in revenue.

  • Amelia McGuire
Trump’s pro-growth policies will be good for ASX firms with US operations.

This ASX giant is primed for a Trump bump. Australia is already losing

In the last few years, Orica, an $8.6 billion company, has invested $2 billion in the US that should have been spent in Australia. Could that capital flight get worse?

  • James Thomson
Former NBN boss Stephen Rue has taken the reins at Optus.

New Optus boss promises company ‘reset’ after horror two years

The incoming CEO says he will draw on a decade of experience at the national broadband network to focus on customer service amid tight household budgets.

  • Jenny Wiggins and Paul Smith
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“We remain committed to Commonwealth Private being the number one banking proposition for our high-net-worth clients in Australia,” CBA executive Angus Sullivan says.

CBA says borrowers are banking tax cuts to bolster mortgage buffer

Commonwealth Bank said its borrowers hoarded the benefits of the government’s stage three tax cuts to afford themselves breathing room on their mortgages.

  • Updated
  • Lucas Baird and James Eyers
Life360 floated on the Nasdaq in June.

Life360 to roll out tracking for pets, elderly relatives to its users

Chief financial officer Russell Burke says the company can simultaneously protect customer data and expand its advertising platform.

  • Amelia McGuire
Jamie Crookes.

Student caps threaten accommodation work, builder Richard Crookes says

The family-owned builder reported a deeper loss of $21 million and said the owners gave it a $30 million injection earlier this year.

  • Michael Bleby
The big four’s financials have been on full display in the past week. Their numbers reveal some lessons about Australian business and life on the ASX in 2024.

Look no further than the banks to see a stubborn productivity problem

Investors either have a longer time horizon than we thought, or are happy to pay more for less. We now know it is the latter, and that does not bode well.

  • Anthony Macdonald
ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott presented the bank’s full-year results on Friday.

ANZ’s Elliott warns Trump policies could mean later, smaller rate cuts

The bank’s chief executive said local borrowers were resilient despite an increase in overdue loan payments, with most tax cuts being saved instead of spent.

  • Updated
  • Lucas Baird and James Eyers

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/earnings-season-1mlu