Hidden Volatility, AI & Small Cap Reversal - February 2026 Reporting Season in Review
In February, we had the majority of Australian listed companies report their 2026 half year preliminary financial results, plus a health set of December balance sheet companies reporting the 2025 full year results. This year we saw on average strong market returns, albeit with high cross-sectional volatility, there was a 31.6% return spread between the best and worst performing industries over the month.
The S&P/ASX 300 returned 3.9%, with strong outperformance by S&P/ASX 100 Large Caps (4.8%) over. S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Small Caps (-2.6%). The Resources super-sector (8.4%) outperformed Industrials (2.2%), with Large Caps dominating across both.
Notable takeaways from February's reporting season announcements:
- 50% of companies beat consensus estimates, double the number that missed estimates
- Just 50% of companies beating estimates traded up on results day, while 66% of companies missing estimates were punished
- Post-result 42% of companies’ consensus FY26 EPS have been revised upwards, while 49% were downgraded
Our Australian Equities team unpack these results further in our February 2026 Reporting Season in Review - click below to read more.
