Choosing ASX shares in September 2026 is always a tough proposition.

Reporting season finished yesterday.

During the past month, hundreds of companies updated guidance, brokers rewrote their models, and plenty of share prices moved a long way in a very short time.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 4% for the calendar year.

In that broader context, here are three names I would look at now.

Why these ASX shares stand out after reporting season

The market has become far more selective.

Results that beat guidance were rewarded, and anything short of that was sold hard almost instantly.

That has left expensive winners and heavily punished losers sitting side by side.

The three companies below are all at different places on that spectrum, which is exactly why I would own them together rather than individually.

1. CSL: a reset year, priced as though nothing improves

CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) delivered the ugliest headline result of the season and one of the better share price reactions.

FY26 revenue slipped 1% to US$15.8 billion, and impairments of US$7.1 billion drove a statutory loss of US$2.6 billion.

Underlying net profit after tax and amortisation still came in at US$3.1 billion.

Investors focused instead on FY27 guidance of roughly 5% underlying profit growth, comfortably ahead of the 2% consensus.

The shares finished last week at $172.32 and are up just 0.2% for the year.

Morgans analyst Damien Nguyen believes the downgrade cycle has finally ended.

In our view, the latest full year result in 2026 is generating confidence that repeated earnings downgrades are behind CSL.

Plasma collection remains a key moat, because a rival donor network takes years and huge quantities of capital to build.

A US$1 billion buyback suggests management shares that view.

2. BHP: the copper story is finally showing up

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) is the momentum name of the three, and the most expensive.

FY26 attributable profit rose 9% to US$9.8 billion on revenue of US$58.8 billion.

Copper delivered US$18.2 billion of underlying EBITDA, up 48%, and accounted for 54% of group earnings for the first time.

Net debt finished the year below US$9 billion.

The catch is the price.

Shares hit a record $68.77 last week and have since eased to about $66, still well above the average broker target of $58.68.

Income softens that somewhat.

BHP’s final fully franked dividend of 99 US cents per share goes ex on 3 September and is paid on 23 September.

3. Temple & Webster: the contrarian option

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) is, admittedly, the uncomfortable one to own.

The online furniture retailer’s shares are near $4.81 and are down roughly 80% over twelve months.

Yet FY26 revenue reached a record $664.6 million, up 10.6%, with EBITDA of $21.9 million.

Active customers grew 5% to 1.33 million, and cash stood at $123 million at 30 June.

Management is guiding to FY27 EBITDA of $33 million to $40 million, implying growth of 50% to 80%.

A soft start to FY27 explains much of the de-rating.

Canaccord Genuity is unconvinced by the sell-off and has a buy rating with a $9 price target, implying 89% upside.

This is comfortably the highest-risk idea on the list, and as a result it should be sized accordingly.

The risks with these ASX shares

Free money on the market doesn’t exist.

CSL still has to prove its FY27 guidance holds after several years of downgrades.

BHP trades above where most analysts think it belongs, and iron ore prices remain entirely outside its control.

Meanwhile, Temple & Webster is a discretionary retailer facing a stretched consumer and a possible interest rate rise on 29 September.

Foolish takeaway

These three ASX shares are deliberately different from one another.

CSL is a quality business emerging from a bad patch.

BHP is a cash machine at a full price.

Temple & Webster is a turnaround bet with a wide range of possible outcomes.

Owning all three would give you defensiveness, income and optionality in roughly equal measure.

For investors adding money this month, that mix of ASX shares strikes me as more sensible than backing a single theme.

The post Top 3 ASX shares to buy in September 2026 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Buy, hold, sell: South32, Mineral Resources, BHP shares
• CSL shares are up more than 40% in a month. What just happened in the US?
• 5 things reporting season taught ASX investors about FY27
• Want to bank the boosted BHP dividend? You’d better hurry!
• BHP shares are pulling back from a record high. What now for ASX investors?

Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL and Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group, CSL, and Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

It has been a remarkable month for CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shareholders, and the stock is pushing higher again on Tuesday.

The CSL share price is up 2.09% to $175.15 at the time of writing, extending a rally that has driven the stock up more than 40% over the past month.

That recovery has wiped out most of its losses from earlier in the year, leaving CSL shares roughly flat in 2026.

So, what has investors looking at the stock again today?

CSL reaches deal with the US government

According to the release, CSL has reached two agreements with the Trump administration covering drug pricing and its manufacturing plans in the United States.

The first is with the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Under the deal, CSL will give the Medicaid program access to its medicines at prices comparable with those available in other developed countries.

It has also agreed to take a similar approach with any newly launched therapies across US payers.

The second agreement is with the US Department of Commerce and relates to CSL’s US$1.5 billion expansion in Kankakee, Illinois.

That project was first announced in April and is designed to increase the company’s capacity to produce plasma-derived therapies in the US.

CSL said the agreements give it “greater certainty regarding exposure to U.S. drug pricing and certain Section 232 tariffs”.

Despite the new arrangements, the company does not expect them to have any material financial impact in FY27.

Why this could be a relief for investors

US drug pricing has been one of the issues hanging over global pharmaceutical companies this year.

The agreement gives investors more clarity around how CSL will operate in its biggest market, while also tying in with its existing plan to increase US manufacturing.

And this announcement comes just after a difficult period for the company.

CSL reported a statutory net loss of US$2.58 billion in FY26 after recording major impairments, although underlying profit came in at US$3.1 billion.

Revenue increased 1% to US$15.8 billion, while management is targeting around 5% underlying profit growth in FY27.

The company has also been dealing with weaker US vaccination rates and softer sales in parts of its plasma business.

Has the rally gone too far?

After a move of more than 40% in just over a month, CSL shares have already come a long way from their July lows.

The stock was trading below $125 in late July and is now back above $175, which changes the conversation a little.

Yes, the latest US deal is another positive step, but a lot of the easy recovery has already happened.

From here, I think investors will be looking more closely at whether earnings can start doing some of the heavy lifting.

The post CSL shares are up more than 40% in a month. What just happened in the US? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top 3 ASX shares to buy in September 2026
• 5 things reporting season taught ASX investors about FY27
• Where will CSL shares be in 12 months? Brokers weigh in
• Up 88%! Why CSL shares remain an ‘appealing’ buy today
• Experts name 2 ASX 200 blue chip shares to buy this week

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Reporting season ended on Monday, and the FY26 numbers are no longer the accountants’ problem.

Hundreds of ASX companies reported through August.

Guidance was revised, brokers rebuilt their models, and volatility impacted many ASX stocks.

Once the noise settles, a handful of lessons are worth carrying into FY27.

Here are the five that struck me most.

1. The outlook mattered more than the result

CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) posted the ugliest headline of the month and one of the best share price reactions.

FY26 revenue slipped 1% to US$15.8 billion and impairments of US$7.1 billion drove a statutory loss of US$2.6 billion, yet the shares rose 17.9% on the day anyway.

Investors ignored the write-downs entirely and focused on FY27 guidance of roughly 5% underlying profit growth, against a 2% consensus.

The lesson is simple enough: the market is pricing next year, not last year.

2. Costs are now the swing factor for miners

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) reported a record FY26 profit and still disappointed.

Underlying net profit after tax reached $1.8 billion on revenue of $7.6 billion.

The problem sat in FY27 guidance, which put all-in sustaining costs at $3,050 to $3,450 an ounce against $2,698 in FY26.

For a decade, the commodity price was the only variable that mattered for Australian miners.

That is no longer true, and cost guidance now moves share prices as much as spot prices do.

3. Cash flow separated reporting season’s winners from the headlines

Northern Star makes this point too.

A $1.8 billion underlying profit produced only $190 million of underlying free cash flow, because capital spending at the KCGM mine peaked during the year.

Plenty of companies reported record profits this reporting season while funding enormous capital programs.

For investors, the cash flow statement has become more and more important.

That is a healthy development, and I expect it to continue through FY27.

4. The income came from resources, not the banks

FY26 flipped the usual assumption about where dividends live.

Utilities shares paid an average yield of 5.98% across the year, with energy at 5.14% and materials at 4.63%, against an S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) average of 4.23%.

Final dividends declared in August have followed the same pattern, and the largest payments this month are coming from energy and mining companies rather than financials.

Anyone building an income portfolio around the big four banks may want to reconsider their strategy in the short to medium term.

5. Growth was repriced, not abandoned

The harshest treatment this reporting season went to companies that grew but missed expectations.

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) is down 58% over twelve months, and Objective Corporation Ltd (ASX: OCL) has fallen 69% to five-year lows.

Yet brokers still see upside of 52% and 33% respectively.

The market has not stopped believing in growth, but it has stopped paying extreme multiples for that growth, and that discipline is likely to persist.

What reporting season means heading into FY27

Two macro threads run underneath all five points.

The economy is slowing, which showed up in softer credit growth and weaker consumer spending across the results.

Inflation also remains stubborn, and Morgan Stanley now expects the Reserve Bank to raise the cash rate when it meets on 29 September.

Neither is fatal, but both argue for owning businesses with strong pricing power and real cash generation.

Foolish takeaway

Reporting season is useful because it forces companies to be specific about what is driving their business.

Guidance, costs and cash flow are all much harder to spin than a headline profit number.

CSL showed that a terrible statutory result can still be a good investment case.

On the other hand, Northern Star showed that a record profit can still be a warning.

All in all, the investors who did best out of this reporting season were the ones reading the outlook statement rather than the press release.

The post 5 things reporting season taught ASX investors about FY27 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX gold shares soared 34% in August. Is the run over?
• Top 3 ASX shares to buy in September 2026
• CSL shares are up more than 40% in a month. What just happened in the US?
• WiseTech shares enjoy best month in over a year. More to come?
• Where will CSL shares be in 12 months? Brokers weigh in

Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL, Objective, and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Objective and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.