It will be a big month for Australian investors in February. That's because earnings season is just about to begin.
Ahead of its start, the team at Goldman Sachs has been picking out a number of ASX 200 stocks that could surprise to the upside during the month.
Here are seven stocks to watch in February:
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Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)
Goldman thinks that appliance manufacturer Breville could outperform expectations with its half year results. It said:
In our 1H25 consumer/retail preview published last week, we highlighted BRG as one of our key Buy ideas into the upcoming results, on sales-led positive growth as well as continued secular growth in the global coffee premium industry.
The broker is forecasting sales and EBIT growth of ~9.2% over the prior corresponding period.
Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA)
Metal detector company Codan is another ASX 200 stock that is being tipped to outperform. It said:
[G]iven performance to-date of recently acquired operations, Codan's strong track record of acquisition integration and a continuing favorable demand environment, we see upside risks to both GSe and consensus Comms estimates.
HMC Capital Ltd (ASX: HMC)
Goldman also believes that alternative investment company HMC Capital could surprise to the upside with its results this month.
Its analysts notes that "HMC's performance YTD suggested its pre-tax EPS was run-rating materially above prior expectations and management attributed this major step-up in earnings to the outperformance of HMC Capital Partners Fund 1."
Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM)
This gold mining giant could be another ASX 200 stock outperforming expectations this month according to the broker. It said:
Newmont is set up for a strong end to CY24. 2025 was soft guided at the group level minimising guidance risk. We expect a positive growth outlook vs local and global peers.
News Corp (ASX: NWS)
Goldman believes this media giant is destined to deliver a strong second quarter update later this month. It said:
We expect News Corp to report a strong 2Q25 result, noting that the average Q2 EBITDA mix for the last 5yrs has been 33.4%, compared to GSe 29.4% and Visible Alpha Consensus Data 29.1%. We forecast for Q2 EBITDA growth of 8% (continuing operations basis).
QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)
Insurance giant QBE could surprise to the upside with its COR guidance for the year ahead according to Goldman Sachs. Its analysts said:
For FY25, we expect COR of 92.5% vs. consensus of 92.8% (Visible Alpha Consensus Data). While we think operating trends suggest that a lower COR may be possible, we suspect that 92.5% will strike the right balance between bridging expectations for ongoing underlying earnings improvement while managing targets for resilience in context of risks within the business.
Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR)
Finally, Worley could be an ASX 200 stock to positively surprise this month. So, with its shares trading on subdued multiples, the broker feels that a re-rating could be on the cards. It explains:
WOR is currently trading at 11.1x consensus EBIT (10.6x GSe). This represents a 13% discount to market and a 2% discount to global peers (vs a 10yr average of -3% and +2%). Therefore, we believe the share price is implying earnings well below both GSe and consensus forecasts.
