As ASX Reporting Season for FY25 Looms: Here’s An Investors Ultimate Guide

ASX Reporting Season is almost upon us once again. It is the most important time of the year for investors, a time many reconsider if their thesis still holds, many choose to buy into a stock or sell, some will receive dividends (either expectedly or unexpectedly) whilst others will be disappointed. While you may not be able to prepare for the unexpected, you should do some preparation. Hence, we’ve written this guide for investors.

 

What investors should do prior to ASX Reporting season

Step 1: Prepare beforehand

First of all, prepare before your company’s results drop this reporting season. Obviously know the date, if there is one (there likely will be if it is at least an ASX 200 stock). Review any guidance the company has given, the more recent the more reliable it will be. Also look at consensus expectations from analysts for revenue, earnings, margins, and dividends (if at all).

If a competitor reports earlier, you may take that as a hint of how your company will do. Perhaps it’ll paint a picture of how the sector is doing, or it may tell that your competitor is doing better or worse than your company.

It goes without saying that surprises (positive or negative) could move the stock significantly. This is true all the time, not just during reporting season – random trading updates throughout the year that paint a far worse picture to what was predicted are greeted with horror from investors. But also look at what has driven share price movement in the past year and factors that might going forward – companies will likely comment on such matters.

Consider your company’s sensitivity to Trump’s tariffs, interest rates or continuing AUD weakness relative to the greenback. Consider intiatives announced last year that were expected to have an impact, do you expect they will be? And take a look back at half-yearly results as a guide.

 

2. Take a wholelistic focus

Our Second piece of advice this reporting season is for investors to take a wholelistic focus. What we’re trying to say here is focus on more than just headlines like “CBA reports another $10bn profit.” Dig deeper into certain metrics, both those that validate the company’s performance and those that might be concerning.

For instance, if CBA’s loan book and NIM (Net Interest Margin) are going down, concern there should outweigh and joy over another $10bn profit. Also look at the company’s debt position – this will be critical in the current high interest rate guidance. And also consider guidance for FY26 (if any).

 

3. Consider joining the earnings call (if there is one)

Third, we suggest waiting to go onto the company’s formal earnings call and hear from the management before making any impulse decisions to buy or sell. You might get a better idea of how the company is doing (or at least its management) from the call. Analysts will make the most of their chance to question the company’s management one on one, something they only get to do during reporting season.

If analyst questions make management stumble, it’s a big red flag. If management appear to be in a completely different reality it is a bad sign too. By that we mean as if they try and spin a result as good when it is clearly not and there is no plan to turn things around.

 

Defensive tactics to adopt if needed

Again, we recommend you don’t trade immediately on headlines — wait for management calls and market reactions. Yet we do recommend having stop-losses or buy levels prepared ahead of time to minimise losses. But a temporary dip may be the chance to accumulate long-term holdings with strong fundamentals.

Of course, you also need to look at your portfolio as a whole. So you may wish to trim (if not sell completely out of) underperformers that miss guidance and show weak outlooks. You may wish to buy more of stocks you expect to do better, or perhaps sectors (e.g. from defensives into cyclicals, or vice versa).

 

What to expect this reporting season

As we’ve implied already, the keys factors impacting companies this reporting season will be Trump’s tariffs and interest rates. The key sectors impacted by tariffs will be the healthcare and mining sectors. Investors will want to know if their companies will cop a hit, if so then what’ll companies do to mitigate the impact. But if not on what basis can they reasonable say that?

Interest rate cuts will be crucial for retailers (especially discretionary retailers) and REITs. In the case of the former, it could lead to increased consumer spending, while the latter could see increased cash flows through lower interest payments (or perhaps lower cash flows through increased investments, made possible via lower interest rates).

 

Most-watched companies

CBA will naturally be the most-watched company this reporting season as the bourse’s largest stock. CBA will report on August 13 and while all expect another A$10bn profit, we all anticipate CEO Matt Comyn’s comments on the broader economy – as boss of the largest bank with so much data, he would know a thing or two. Other banks may report too – despite the fact that some like ANZ use a different calendar, they may give a general trading update or quarterly results.

The 3 mining stocks all will watch this reporting season are BHP (August 19), Rio Tinto (July 30) and Fortescue (August 25) given Trump’s tariffs and the Chinese economy. CSL will report on August 19 too and we’ll see if it is sticking by its goal of ‘double digit growth for the rest of the decade‘ in spite of Trump’s tariffs.

In tech, look out for WiseTech (August 27) and Pro Medicus (August 14). Even if these companies’ results are good, investors may sell out just because of the lofty valuations. Retailers like Kogan (August 25) and Wesfarmers (August 28) may reveal if consumer demand was elevated by the stage 3 tax cuts, or if interest rates will be the magic saviour instead.

 

Our Final Advice for Reporting Season on the ASX

Treat reporting season like a stress test for your portfolio. Stay calm, stay informed, and think long-term. Don’t react emotionally to every beat or miss — but do use the season to upgrade your portfolio quality.

 

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