Recorded 2 March 2026

Measured purely by index performance, the February 2026 reporting season was a raging success. The ASX 200 rallied more than 4% – the best February in seven years. Incredibly, there were twice as many earnings beats versus misses over reporting season, and three times as many upgrades as downgrades. But beneath that headline strength sits a very uneven market.

In this exclusive update filmed with Chris Conway from Livewire Markets, Portfolio Managers Marcus Ryan (Large caps), Michael Steele (Small caps) and Joel Fleming (Microcaps) break down the standout winners, surprise laggards, and the opportunities emerging across large caps, small caps and micro caps.

From powerful sector divergences to the rising influence of AI across markets, the Yarra team details their preferred stocks for the current environment and how they are positioning portfolios for the period ahead.

Watch the discussion below and read Livewire’s full take here.

Time stamps

0:28 – Characterising the season
1:35 – Major themes from reporting season
2:44 – CapEx cycle and mining tailwinds
3:08 – Highlight of the season: resources strength
3:44 – Lowlight of the season: healthcare weakness
4:36 – Large-cap outlook: banks, miners and valuation risks
8:13 – Small caps: earnings growth and valuation gap
10:30 – Small-cap stock picks: Pinnacle and Netwealth
11:36 – Micro-cap themes: liquidity and operating leverage
13:36 – Micro-cap stock picks: Energy One and Artrya
14:51 – Sector focus: resources across market caps
19:58 – Sector focus: consumer discretionary trends
22:39 – Sector focus: tech and AI disruption
26:02 – AI opportunities and risks in small caps