
We believe Collins Foods (ASX: CKF) is entering a multi-year earnings recovery cycle anchored by margin repair in Australia, operational rejuvenation in Europe, clear line-of-sight to double-digit EBITDA growth, and an improving balance sheet that gives management options rather than constraints. The HY26 results demonstrate that CKF is moving decisively out of the inflation shock period that suppressed margins and elevated operating costs between 2022–2024. With commodity and utilities inflation easing, labour efficiencies improving, and price/mix still resilient, we see structural tailwinds forming beneath the company’s operating base.

Silver has quietly moved into a powerful uptrend, and it’s not happening by accident. The metal is being pulled in two directions at once, as a financial haven and as an industrial workhorse. For ASX investors, this creates an opportunity. Exposure comes through producers, developers, and explorers whose revenues and valuations tend to rise as silver prices strengthen, offering leverage to a market driven by both fear and future-focused demand.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) remains the undisputed heavyweight of the Australian financial system, dominant in retail banking, advantaged by scale, and well-positioned to monetise the next phase of household re-leveraging as rates peak and credit growth stabilises. Our view is simple: CBA’s franchise resilience is undervalued. While the macro backdrop remains mixed and competition in mortgages remains intense, the bank continues to deliver sector-leading returns, defend margin leadership, and maintain one of the strongest balance sheets globally.

LaserBond (ASX: LBL) has entered a structurally stronger period after FY25 delivered clear evidence of operating leverage, improved manufacturing efficiencies, and accelerating adoption of its surface-engineered technologies across mining, energy, defence, and agricultural markets. With its patented LaserBond® cladding and composite coating systems now demonstrating superior lifecycle economics versus traditional wear-resistance methods, the company is positioned as a high-margin engineering solutions provider rather than a cyclical industrial.

Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX: SRL) is advancing one of the Western world’s most strategically significant battery-materials developments: the Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt-Scandium Project in NSW, a globally large, long-life, ESG-aligned source of critical minerals essential for EVs, aerospace alloys, defence technologies and high-performance fuel cells. Backed by strong balance sheet discipline, rising government engagement, escalating Western supply-security policies, and material advancement across strategic partnerships during 2025, Sunrise enters 2026 with a profile we view as deeply undervalued relative to its strategic optionality.

Recce has recently attracted attention because it’s advancing drug candidates against serious infections, a space with significant potential if late-stage trials succeed. That kind of promise is why some market watchers see upside in RCE’s shares. On the flip side, the company remains unprofitable, with no consistent earnings or predictable cash flow, so it’s still a speculative biotech rather than a stable performer.