We’re almost at the end of February 2025 reporting season. Of the 180 companies we cover set to report by month’s end, about 150 have opened their books. Since our last issue of Your Money Weekly, results have softened a touch. When we took score last week, we’d upgraded 40% of companies that had reported. But as of Wednesday 26th, that percentage had dropped to about 30%. The share of companies we’ve downgraded also ticked up, to 10% from 4%. These proportions look very similar to the average in recent years, so we’re on track for a pretty standard reporting season.

This characterisation might puzzle some readers. From media headlines, and the market’s gyrations over the past fortnight, you’d have cause to think February 2025 reporting season has been a complete flop. As of Wednesday 26th, the benchmark ASX 200 index is down roughly 3% since the start of February [Exhibit 1]. If I look back at reporting seasons during the last 20 years, both February and August, this sits in the bottom 15% of monthly returns (and we still have a few days left). Yet Morningstar says it’s been pretty vanilla. What gives?

Reporting season

We think it has something to do with the market’s lofty expectations, and we’ll explore why in this issue of Your Money Weekly.

We’ll also discuss some of the biggest results of the week, including our big iron ore miners, the supermarkets, and some bellwether telco and media stocks.

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Morningstar Investor subscribers can access the full commentary here.