Company Interview / Is Paladin a buy at these levels?

James Gerrish from Shaw and Partners and Market Matters explains his take on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) results. He notes a 2.5 billion dollar cash profit, with revenue up over 3% and expanding margins. Costs remain flat, indicating strong earnings growth. However, CBA's high trading multiples raise concerns.

Discussing banks further, James mentions owning both CBA and ANZ. He sees ANZ as having growth potential, especially with its Suncorp Bank acquisition and technology rollouts. While maintaining a slightly underweight position in banks, he highlights NAB's valuation challenges and Westpac as an interesting relative value opportunity.

James examines James Hardie's (ASX: JHX) 23% drop in first-half net profit, noting a 5% beat on quarterly EBIT estimates. Despite challenging conditions, their guidance for income shows stability. He also touches on Life360's upgraded calendar year EBITDA guidance, driven by subscriber growth, but balanced by hardware sales delays.