Experts are always on the lookout for investment opportunities that could deliver good performance. Outperformance of the stock market can come from resilient performance by ASX blue-chip shares during negative periods, as much as from growth stocks at other times.
We're going to look at two S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares that have been highlighted by the investment team in charge of the listed investment company (LIC) WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE).
Let's dive into why the following two businesses have been identified as ideas.
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Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)
The Wilson Asset Management team described Woolworths as a leading Australian supermarket and retail group. It also owns businesses involved in supplying commercial customers with food – PFD is the main business, with customers like hotels, restaurants, cafes, and so on. Other businesses include BIG W, Petstock, and New Zealand supermarket retailing.
WAM noted that Woolworths delivered a "high-quality" FY26 half-year result, with strong sales growth continuing into the early weeks of calendar year 2026.
The fund manager suggested that early signs from the first seven weeks of trading of the second half of FY26 show the company "may have regained its sales leadership, building on early signs of recovery first evident in October 2025."
WAM said that this revenue strength was achieved without compromising margins, supported by disciplined cost management, which resulted in the consensus of market analysts revising their earnings expectations higher (helping send the Woolworths share price higher).
The company's Woolworths 'living' division also performed well, according to the fund manager, driven by Petstock, along with a recovery of trading at BIG W.
WAM Leaders revealed that the ASX blue-chip share remains a "core holding", underpinned by its scale, supply chain, and data capabilities, and supported by improving trading performance in its core business.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)
The other company the fund manager wanted to highlight in the WAM Leaders portfolio was Woodside, a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter.
WAM said that the Woodside share price benefited from a tightening in the LNG market following the suspension of operations at QatarEnergy's Ras Laffan facility, which is the world's largest LNG facility.
The fund manager noted that, compared with Australian peers, Woodside Energy Group has greater exposure to global gas-market pricing, which positions the business to benefit from higher oil and gas prices.
The investment team also highlighted that the business reported a strong result during February, with its dividend coming in ahead of expectations.
WAM also said that the ASX blue-chip share's key growth project, Scarborough, is approaching completion and remains on track and on budget.
The fund manager concluded:
We remain constructive on the outlook for Woodside Energy Group given its earnings sensitivity to commodity prices, near-term production growth, and the potential partial sale of Woodside Energy Group's stake in the Louisiana LNG project.
