Share tips for 2026: Australia’s top stock pickers name 10 tips for the new year

Australia’s top stock pickers are preparing for a 2026 that may include rising interest rates given Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock’s warning of such moves in a bid to get a cap on inflation.

But even if the central bank puts the brakes on the economy, professional investors say there’ll still be lots of companies growing their profits across sectors from finance to mining and technology. This means you can still make money in the share market in 2026, but you’ll just need to know where to look.

WiseTech and data centres

Ben Clark, a portfolio manager at TMS Capital, thinks one of 2025’s worst performers - software group Wisetech - is a likely turnaround star in 2026.

Known as one of Australia’s best stock pickers, Mr Clark said he came away from the tech company’s investor day full of confidence it will be a good business to make money in over the next year.

“The stock’s cheap,” Mr Clark said. “I think this new pricing model they’re rolling out is going to be meaningful. They also have a new division they’re rolling out called CTO, which is the optimisation of moving cargo around the country.

“Richard White said at the investor day he thinks CTO could be bigger than Cargowise (WiseTech’s main software product). It’s not a near-term contributor, but it could be massive.”

WiseTech shares lost around 40 per cent in 2025 to trade at $73.86 on December 10, but the business is still up 22-fold since its 2016 initial public offer at $3.35 per share.

Data centre operator Macquarie Technologies is another Sydney tech business which Mr Clark is backing to profit from in 2026. Mr Clark said the little-known internet services business has grown its profits over 20 consecutive halves and is well positioned for long-term growth thanks to increasing demand for services linked to artificial intelligence.

“Macquarie Technology is founder-led and they should see completion of their major Sydney data centre in 2026 when we should also see the sign-up of more customers, and more profit growth,” he said.

Property and energy

Fund manager and co-founder of Seneca Financial Solutions, Luke Laretive believes another former market darling is due for a rebound in 2026. Mr Laretive named property website REA Group as a stock for investors to buy given the famously robust nature of Australia’s residential property market.

REA Group shares are down 21 per cent over the six months to December 10, as investors are worried its competitor Domain may take market share under new US owners. However, Mr Laretive thinks this creates a buying opportunity for REA Group.

“The competitive risk is real, but the market may be overestimating how much can change in the short term and underestimating REA’s long-run pricing power,” said Mr Laretive.

The fund manager also likes petrol retailer and fuel refiner Viva Energy for capital gains in 2026. Viva Energy runs the Shell, Liberty, Westside and Reddy Express petrol station brands across Australia, alongside the Geelong Oil Refinery as one of the country’s key fuel assets.

“Viva now trades on roughly 11 times forward profits, well below its major competitor Ampol at around 16 times,” said Mr Laretive. “Ampol shares are up this year while Viva is down about 17 per cent. If refining margins hold, and retail stabilises even modestly, there’s a case for that gap to narrow.”

Mr Laretive’s Seneca Financial Australian Small Companies Fund returned 38.1 per cent over the 12 months to October 31.

Don’t text and drive

Another business Australians might have come across in 2025 is ASX small-cap Acusensus. It’s the company that sells road and traffic monitoring cameras to state governments to catch drivers illegally texting while on the road.

“It’s a topical technology and heaps of people are still using phones while driving,” says Dean Fergie, the founder of Cyan Investment Management. “Acusensus has a really strong footprint across the board in Australia, except Victoria, and have big government contracts.

“Very importantly, they just won their first major contract in the US, which is a huge market.”

Acusensus shares have surged 64 per cent over the past 12 months, although the company is still under the radar with a market cap of just $233 million.

Mr Fergie also tips small-cap debt collector Credit Clear as a good stock to own. “Credit Clear use email, text and the web to make debt payments a better experience for people with outstanding debts. They’re also expanding into the UK. The chairman has also just bought heaps of shares, which is a really positive sign.”

Insurance and real estate

Claude Walker, a stock picking expert and the founder of A Rich Life investment website, reckons stock market punters should take a look at insurance broker Steadfast Group. Its shares are rebounding despite a rocky 2025 in which they fell 14 per cent over the year to December 9.

Mr Walker suggests the falls might be an opportunity to buy into a high-quality business on a cheap valuation.

“Steadfast Group boasts a trailing dividend yield of about 3.85 per cent in December 2025 and benefits from the increasing cost of insurance,” Mr Walker said. “To put that in perspective the average trailing dividend yield over the last decade was about 2.6 per cent, so the market is currently far more pessimistic about the stock than it usually is.”

Like Mr Laretive, Mr Walker also singled out REA Group given the fact that the property group is still widely regarded as a good quality business despite enduring a lower 2025.

“For now the REA Group share price is trending lower,” Mr Walker said. “The trailing 12-month normalised price-to-earnings ratio of about 38, in December 2025 is well below the 10-year average, allowing for upside when sentiment towards the stock improves.”

Rising laptop costs, shorting computer manufactures

Tom Rice, the founder of Minotaur Capital, is widely regarded as one of Australia’s top tech investors. One theme he’s noted over the second half of 2025 is the soaring costs of memory chips in laptops. Therefore he’s tipping US computer memory hardware manufacturer Micron to rise on soaring profit growth.

Micron’s shares have already rocketed 189 per cent over the calendar year to December 10 to a market value of $US284 billion ($427 billion) and Mr Rice thinks the run could extend through 2026. He also likes South Korean memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix for the same reasons.

“So memory prices have shot through the roof and these stocks have done well, but I think these prices will last longer than people think,” he said.

The hedge fund manager added he’s also shorting shares (betting on their price falling) of computer manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell and Hewlett Packard, as he thinks the soaring costs of memory chips will reduce their profit margins.

Mr Rice’s final pick is a Polish computer game developer named CD Projekt, which is behind the popular Witcher and Cyberpunk games.

“I think the earnings power of that business will kind of double or triple from 2027 onwards as they’re developing two really powerful games at once and they’re great at compelling games. They used to release a major game every five years or so, but now it is every two to three years so I think the base earnings of the business can grow substantially,” Mr Rice said.

Mr Rice’s Minotaur Capital investment fund is up 19.8 per cent after fees over the 12 months to November 28.