Welcome to the August 2023 edition of Sharesight’s monthly ASX trading snapshot, where we look at the top 20 trades Sharesight users made on the ASX during the month.

In this snapshot, buy trades were strongly led by Vaguard’s Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), followed by Resmed (ASX: RMD), which reported revenue growth of 23% YoY. Over the same period, sell trades were led by Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS), which saw its share price drop despite reporting 326% profit growth in its FY23 results. Overall, this month’s top trades were largely dominated by index-tracking ETFs as well as stocks in the mining and minerals sectors.

Top 20 ASX trades August 2023

Let’s look at the news behind some of the key stocks in this month’s snapshot:

ResMed (ASX: RMD)

• ResMed revenue grows 23% YoY to AU$1.1 billion
• Share price plummets 19% as ResMed reveals falling gross margins
• Short sellers target ResMed due to growing popularity of weight loss drug Ozempic

CSL (ASX: CSL)

• Leading broker predicts 23% upside for CSL
• CSL share price could come under pressure as new competitor enters the market
• CSL announces “supersized” dividend payment

BHP (ASX: BHP)

• BHP profit drops 37%, fuelled by Chinese economic woes
• Residents object to BHP’s proposed mining camp in Kargoorlie-Boulder
• BHP to boycott Queensland for new investment following introduction of coal royalty regime

Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS)

• Pilbara share price on watch following 326% profit growth in FY23 results
• Pilbara shares down despite profit growth; leading broker downgrades rating to neutral
• Could Pilbara be impacted by WA’s revised cultural heritage laws?

Westpac (ASX: WBC)

• Westpac announces AU$1.8 billion quarterly profit; 10% down from first-half quarterly average
• Westpac share price drops as quarterly profit falls short of market expectations
• Leading broker bullish on Westpac; expects dividends to keep growing over next year

Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS)

• Woodside approved to develop Mexico’s Trion deepwater oil project
• Share price rises on news of Mexico project approval
• Woodside puts US$1 billion-worth of projects up for sale

Fortescue Metals (ASX: FMG)

• Fortescue shares plummet as CEO announces departure after less than 6 months in role
• Reveals 23% profit decline in FY23 earnings results
• Fortescue’s Iron Bridge project faces US$1 billion devaluation

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