Some of the best ASX shares aren't really about Australia at all anymore. Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) and Catapult Sports Ltd (ASX: CAT) have both been smashed over the past year, but their real story is playing out overseas. And that global growth engine is exactly what makes these ASX shares worth a second look.
Zip rose 1% on Tuesday to $2.24, but remains down 52% over 12 months. Catapult shares climbed 6% to $3.13, still 56% lower than a year ago. Beaten-up share prices, sure, but the underlying businesses tell a very different story.
Image source: Getty Images
Zip: the US is the whole game now
After trading between $1.38 and $4.93 over the past 12 months, this ASX share faces plenty of potential catalysts, chief among them continued growth in its increasingly lucrative US market.
A broader tech sell-off, competition worries, slowing growth fears, geopolitical uncertainty and higher-for-longer interest rates have all hammered sentiment. But look past the noise, and the real story is where Zip's growth is actually coming from. The company has spent years reshaping itself around product development, profitability and international expansion. And the US now sits at the centre of everything.
The numbers back it up. The US accounted for roughly two-thirds of Zip's revenue in FY26. Revenue from that market surged 44.3% in US dollar terms, dwarfing the 4.6% growth recorded across ANZ.
Customer trends confirm the shift. Active US customers jumped 9.3% to 4.65 million, while ANZ customers actually shrank 8% to 1.88 million. Zip expects US total transaction value to grow more than 30% in FY27, making American expansion arguably the single biggest driver of this ASX share's earnings and valuation from here.
A proposed Nasdaq dual listing could add another catalyst, lifting Zip's profile among US investors and supporting its ambitions in the world's largest BNPL market.
For anyone eyeing Zip, that's a genuinely compelling setup: a beaten-down share price, accelerating earnings growth, solid broker support, and a massive US opportunity still unfolding.
Catapult: the sport-tech flying under the radar
Catapult builds athlete performance and analytics technology used across elite sport, with customers spanning the AFL, NRL, Premier League, NFL, NBA, MLB and international rugby.
What makes this ASX share genuinely interesting is how deeply embedded its technology becomes. Clubs use Catapult to measure physical workloads, review video, assess tactical patterns and manage preparation.
Over time, more of those functions get folded into the same ecosystem. Years of performance data build up inside Catapult's systems, creating serious switching costs and sticky, recurring revenue.
The results reflect that stickiness. Annualised contract value rose 28% to US$133.8 million in FY2026. Revenue climbed 19% to a record US$140.7 million, driven by SaaS revenue of US$118.6 million, up 21%. SaaS and other recurring revenue now makes up 95% of total revenue.
Growth here comes from three angles: signing new organisations, expanding within existing customers, and cross-selling more of its software suite. With major leagues, clubs, universities and sporting programs scattered across the globe, this ASX share still has plenty of room to run.
