Sometimes it's the under-researched, smaller businesses that can outperform large ASX blue-chip shares over the long-term because they have a stronger growth runway, yet they're not priced for that level of success.

The two businesses I'm going to talk about are ones that the investment team in charge of the listed investment company (LIC), WAM Capital Ltd (ASX: WAM), likes.

That LIC is looking to find the most compelling undervalued growth opportunities in the Australian market. Let's look at those the WAM team recently highlighted in a monthly update. 

Cobram Estate Olives Ltd (ASX: CBO)

The Wilson Asset Management (WAM) investment team describes Cobram Estate Olives as a leading Australian food and agribusiness company that specialises in olive farming, the production and marketing of premium-quality extra virgin olive oil.

The Cobram Estate Olives share price rose in March after completing the acquisition of California Olive Ranch, expanding its US footprint, and increasing exposure to a large, growing premium olive oil market. The deal was recently given US anti-trust approval, which had been an overhang on the deal.

This acquisition is expected to more than double the ASX share's Californian footprint, broaden its customer base, and deliver "meaningful operational synergies and earnings growth over time".

WAM said the Cobram Estate Olives share price rose during March because of reduced execution risk, improved visibility on transaction completion, and confidence in the long-term growth profile of the enlarged US-focused business.

According to the forecast on CMC Invest, the business is valued at 24x FY27's estimated earnings.

GemLife Communities Group (ASX: GLF)

Another business that WAM likes – and it was a top 20 position in the WAM Capital portfolio at the end of March 2026 – is GemLife Communities.

This ASX share is a developer, builder, owner, and operator in Australia's land lease community (LLC) sector. It provides resort-style communities for homeowners aged 50 and over.

During March, the GemLife Communities share price fell 17%, partly because the business released its FY25 results after a period of strong performance following its listing on the ASX in July 2025.

WAM believes the pullback reflected a combination of investor profit-taking and broader market weakness in interest rate-sensitive real estate stocks amid ongoing interest rate uncertainty.

Despite the pullback, the fund manager remains "positive" on the group's outlook, supported by a strong development pipeline, favourable demographic tailwinds, and an integrated operating model that "underpins recurring revenue and margin expansion".

Solid sales momentum and disciplined capital management further support WAM's view that the ASX share can deliver long-term earnings growth.

The post 2 little-known ASX shares that could make big returns appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Fund managers at Wilson Asset Management picked the business as one to keep an eye on. It was one of the largest 20 positions in the portfolio of listed investment company (LIC) WAM Research Ltd (ASX: WAX) at the end of February 2026.

WAM Research aims to own the most compelling undervalued growth opportunities in the Australian market. It also holds stocks such as Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB), Gentrack Group Ltd (ASX: GTK) and Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA).

Let's take a look at why GemLife is an attractive business to own.

What does GemLife do?

The ASX share is not one of the most well-known businesses on the ASX. The fund manager described the business as an Australian 'pureplay' developer, builder, owner and operator in Australia's land lease community (LLC) sector, delivering resort-style communities for homeowners aged 50 and over.

WAM notes that it has more than 30 communities and projects across Australia, primarily spanning Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

FY25 result

The fund manager was pleased to see that the business announced a "positive" FY25 result in February, reporting robust growth and declaring that its performance had exceeded prospectus forecasts.

Revenue grew by 5.8% to $281.7 million, underlying operating profit (EBITDA) climbed by 9.4% to $110 million, and underlying net profit increased 10.1% to $90 million.

WAM also highlighted that GemLife announced positive capital management initiatives, refinancing existing debt to improve the organisation's balance sheet.

Its $700 million debt facility was originally scheduled to mature in June 2029. This has been refinanced into three tranches with staggered maturities. The cost of debt was also renegotiated, reducing the overall cost by 25 basis points (0.25%) compared to the previous facility.

Positive outlook for the ASX share

Turning to FY26, the business is focused on delivering active sites, providing identifiable earnings growth over the coming years.

It's expecting its underlying earnings per security (EPS) to grow by between 20% to 27% in 2026, reaching between 28.5 cents and 30 cents.

Upfront infrastructure works are expected to be delivered at several new communities, leading to a greater number of active projects contributing to settlements from FY27 onwards.

At 31 December 2025, there were 300 homes completed or under construction, up from 260 at 30 June 2025. It expects to settle over 420 homes in FY26, though the focus will continue to be on underlying earnings and profitability to support the ASX share's organic growth strategy.

The post Experts like this ASX share which expects to grow its profit by at least 20% this year! appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Listed below are two more Australian shares that the broker has just named as best buys for the month ahead. Here's what it is saying about them:

Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD)

The first ASX share that Bell Potter has recommended as a best buy this month is Elders.

It is a leading agribusiness and rural services company providing a diverse range of services to rural and regional Australia. Bell Potter notes that this includes livestock and wool agency and marketing, real estate services, agricultural supplies, financial services, and insurance.

The broker believes that Elders' shares are looking cheap at current prices and feels that the market is undervaluing the recent acquisition of Delta Agribusiness. In addition, it sees scope for potential upside catalysts and a strong dividend yield for income investors.

Commenting on its bullish view of the stock, Bell Potter said:

We see value in ELD, particularly with the market appearing to undervalue the pending Delta acquisition. The base business is performing well with multiple growth drivers including recovery from drought conditions, system modernisations, and backward integration benefits. We are attracted to ELD's valuation, which is relatively cheap at 12x 12MF P/E, along with these potential upside catalysts and a strong dividend yield.

GemLife Communities (ASX: GLF)

Bell Potter has added this over 50s lifestyle communities developer to its best ideas list this month.

It believes the company is well-placed to benefit from Australia's ageing population and expanding retirement living sector. In fact, Bell Potter estimates that GemLife could deliver a three-year earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 15%.

Commenting on the company, the broker said:

We add GemLife Communities (GLF) to the Small Cap Panel as a high-quality exposure to Australia's ageing population and expanding retirement living sector. The business benefits from an experienced, family led management team with strong alignment through ~43% ownership, supporting long term strategic execution.

With a strong development pipeline and settlements expected to ramp, we forecast a +15% 3 year EPS CAGR, and see the CY25 result as the next major catalyst. The stock looks attractive trading at ~15x FY27 earnings and we anticipate a re-rate as recurring income becomes a bigger contributor of earnings and the market better recognises the resilience and scalability of the model.

The post Bell Potter names more of the best ASX shares to buy in February appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The company is a vertically integrated operator of land lease communities for residents over 50 years old. Revenue comes from developing and selling manufactured homes and collecting rent on the underlying land.

The Australian retirement resort operator debuted on the ASX back in July with an IPO of $4.16 per share. 

Since then, it has lifted more than 15% and closed Thursday's trading at $4.82. 

Bell Potter released a report yesterday, placing a buy recommendation on this ASX real estate stock. 

Let's examine what was behind the attractive valuation. 

Bell Potter believes in this premium business 

The broker believes the business is well placed to capture a share of Australia's aging population in the living sector. 

Bell Potter said it is unique amongst peers with an internal construction team, enabling sector leading development margins and the ability to dynamically meet demand (upwards or downwards), and manage risk via increased visibility and capital management (i.e. developing multiple stages concurrently, or switching off).

The broker also reinforced confidence in its experienced management team. 

The Puljich family are well regarded industry operators, with significant skin in the game (mgmt. c.43% of SOI incl. Thakral family) and alignment to drive shareholder value over the long term.

Forecasting ahead, Bell Potter has an optimistic view on earnings. 

It forecasts a +15% 3yr EPS CAGR for GLF, driven by increased development (BPe 16 active communities in CY27 vs 10 today) and settlement ramp up (BPe +16% 3yr CAGR to 451 settlements CY27), with sector leading gross build margins (c.50%). 1yr forward PE of 17.4x drops to 14.7x CY27 as development completions build out passive earnings contribution.

Attractive valuation 

Bell Potter has placed a buy recommendation on this ASX real estate stock and a price target of $5.55. 

This indicates an upside of 15.15% from yesterday's closing price of $4.82. 

The broker said Gemlife Communities Group is a high-quality and well-managed business that is at an attractive entry point as it transitions from a 'restocking' phase into one of strong growth. 

Bell Potter reinforced the business is already tracking ahead of PDS expectations, and we see the CY25 result as the next major catalyst. 

The post Bell Potter says this ASX real estate stock is a buy with 15% upside appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The broker has named a number of stocks it sees as good buys in the current market, pointing out that many of these companies are under-researched by brokers and operate in higher-growth sectors of the economy.

Compared to the ASX 100, the Small Ords index is far less concentrated and is less tilted towards growth-challenged sectors such as banks and iron ore. While just the banks and iron ore comprise about 38.5% of the ASX 100, these low growth sectors account for just around 1.5% of the Small Ords. While passive flows into banks (and other blue chips e.g. Wesfarmers) have supported the ASX 100's outperformance prior to this year, we believe this will unwind as valuations remain overstretched, particular considering their meagre growth outlooks.

As a result of being covered by fewer analysts, and traded by fewer investors, there was a higher degree of mispricing among smaller stocks, Wilsons says, and it also argues there are more merger and acquisition targets.

The broker also argues that small-cap stocks benefit disproportionately from rate cuts, as they are more exposed to cyclical sectors such as consumer and retail and carry more debt.

While small caps have outperformed since February as investors acknowledge the earnings boost provided by rate cuts, valuations have yet to overrun and still provide an attractive entry point.

Wilsons favours stock feed and fertiliser company Ridley Corporation Limited (ASX: RIC), saying it was reinvesting to support growth, and had made a highly accretive fertiliser acquisition.

RIC screens attractively at a forward price to earnings of 19x while offering three-year earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 15%. Management has been focusing on acquiring, expanding and de bottlenecking stock feed mills, adding incremental capacity. Increasing its scale also lowers the cost per tonne of feed, improving its unit economics and helping defend margins in a competitive market.

Wilsons also likes medical device infection solutions company Nanosonics Limited (ASX: NAN), saying the core TROPHON business is well-positioned and has an upcoming product launch.

Wilsons is predicting compound annual earnings per share growth of 21% for five years for Nanosonics.

With its recent FDA approval, CORIS, the first device cleared for automated cleaning of flexible endoscopes, is set to launch in FY26 and deliver material earnings upside.

Other companies favoured by Wilsons include Maas Group Holdings Limited (ASX: MGH), GemLife Communities Group (ASX: GLF), and Autosports Group Limited (ASX: ASG).

The post It's time to buy these ASX small-cap stocks Wilsons says appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

To narrow things down, let's take a look at three that Morgans has just named as buys. They are as follows:

betr Entertainment Ltd (ASX: BBT)

Morgans remains bullish on this sports betting company and sees it as an ASX share to buy.

It has put a buy rating and 42 cents price target on its shares. It explains:

We have updated our model to incorporate BETR Entertainment's (BBT) sizeable minority stake in PointsBet Holdings (PBH) into valuation. This adjustment improves transparency around how the PBH position flows through to equity value. No changes to operating assumptions for the core business are made as part of this event. Our target price increases to $0.42 (from $0.38). We retain a Buy recommendation. BBT is scheduled to release its FY25 result on 28 August.

DigiCo Infrastructure REIT (ASX: DGT)

This data centre operator could be an ASX share to buy according to Morgans.

It has put a buy rating and $4.85 price target on its shares, which is notably higher than its current share price of $2.76.

While disappointed with its FY 2025 results and guidance for the year ahead, the broker remains positive and sees potential for a material lease transaction to unlock value. It explains:

DGT's FY25A result fell short of investors' expectations, providing little in the way of quantitative earnings guidance for FY26, as EBITDA growth remains dependent on the timing of new contract commencements, renewals and remixing of existing capacity. The company does however expect to add an additional 6MW of capacity at SYD1 by Jun-26, which we estimate could see EBITDA increase >20%, once billing.

Investors are demanding tangible evidence of leasing progression, whilst management have been, until now, largely hamstrung by approvals and construction timings. Whilst we appreciate the frustration, we remain of the opinion the asset can lease-up, with a material lease transaction the catalyst to unlock value. On this basis, we retain our BUY rating at $4.85/sh price target.

GemLife Communities Group (ASX: GLF)

A third ASX share that gets the thumbs up from Morgans is GemLife. It is a provider of resort style living for homeowners aged 50 and over.

The broker has initiated coverage on its shares with a buy rating and $5.25 price target.

Morgans believes that the company is well-placed to benefit from growing demand from the downsizer market and insufficient future supply from land lease community (LLC) operators. It said:

With growing demand from the aging 50+ housing downsizer market and insufficient future supply from Land Lease Community (LLC) operators, we believe GLF is positioned to grow earnings as it builds out an extensive portfolio of 9,836 sites across the eastern seaboard. Whilst GLF trades at a price-to-earnings multiple (FY26) discount to its two nearest peers (INA and LIC), we believe GLF can establish itself at the ASX's premium single focus LLC operator.

GLF's free cash flow positive model and capacity to fund growth ambitions from retained earnings, should see the business grow faster than peers, without needing to seek additional capital. As a result, we initiate coverage with a BUY recommendation and a 12-month target price of A$5.25/sh, based on a blended average of PER, SOTP and DCF.

The post Morgans says these top ASX shares are buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.