APAC 3Q26: positioning cheat-sheets ahead of earnings season

We polled UBS analysts across Asia to identify companies where they expect a positive or negative surprise vs consensus in the Sep-26 results, highlighting 20/5 companies that could deliver positive/negative earnings surprises. Analysts generally expect positive surprises in Taiwan tech, China autos and parts, and select Australian companies across sectors, while expecting mixed results in India IT services and China healthcare. Stocks where returns have been negative in the past three months but analysts expect positive surprises include Kedali (002850 SZ), Mercari (4385 JP), Westpac (WBC AU), Singtel (ST SP) and POSCO Holdings (005490 KS);