As part of our regular manager engagement, we spoke with our current Core Fund Managers following Reporting Season to get their insights on some of the key positions in the portfolio.
Amazon
Despite investors' concerns around tariff headwinds, Amazon proved its E-Commerce market leadership with both its US and international segments growing north of 10%, surpassing a $500bn annualised revenue run rate. Retail margins continue to strengthen, as Amazon reaps the benefits of investments behind regionalisation, alongside accelerating growth in its advertising services.
Despite Amazon Web Services (AWS) showing sequential acceleration, investors were let down when comparing the magnitude of beats delivered by both Microsoft and Google within their respective cloud businesses. AWS margins were pressured by a step up in stock-based compensation, coupled with higher depreciation expenses on the back of ramping capex. What gives Munro Partners confidence in the trajectory of AWS is the growth in backlog reaching 25%, significantly outpacing underlying revenue growth, whilst CEO Andrew Jassy signalling confidence in easing capacity restraints over the next few quarters. Moving into the back half of the year, Munro Partners see ample opportunity for Amazon to maintain healthy top-line growth, whilst continuing to expand margin, leading to further positive earnings revisions.
Block (XYZ.NYSE)
Block, Inc. reported a strong quarterly result on 7 August. Block significantly exceeded their guidance and expectations on both growth and profitability, bouncing back from a softer Q1.
Block “is back on the offense”, as CEO & Co-Founder Jack Dorsey stated. Both sides of the business performed well: Square gross profit grew 11% versus consensus of 8% and Cash App gross profit grew 16% compared to consensus at 10%. It’s also not just in the numbers – across company disclosure, marketing campaigns, product releases and overall messaging – a lot of the foundational changes the company has made over the past 12-18 months are starting to bear fruit. The company feels revitalised.
Square: The turnaround in Square’s growth has continued since Jack Dorsey and Nick Molnar assumed responsibility for Square and Global Sales, respectively. Gross Payment Volume (GPV) from Square merchants grew 10% globally, with the US growing 7% and international growing 24%.
Cash App: Gross profit from Block’s consumer-facing business unit reaccelerated after a disappointing sequential run of decelerating growth. The uptick was driven by an increase in the monetisation of their 57 million monthly active users, with gross profit per user growing 15%.
Adjusted EBITDA of $892 million beat consensus again as Block continues to demonstrate operating leverage. The company repurchased a further $692 million of stock in the quarter at ~$55 per share, exploiting the share price weakness following the Q1 result to further reduce shares outstanding. They still have ~$1.5 billion of authorised repurchases remaining.
Cameco (CCJ.NYSE)
Cameco’s 3Q25 highlight continued bullish momentum in both uranium pricing and Westinghouse performance, with management increasing guidance and providing a constructive outlook for the sector. The company’s comments reaffirm a structurally strong uranium pricing environment: realised uranium prices rose, driving Q2 revenues up, and CCJ increased its uranium price guide. Management commentary was optimistic, emphasising long-term contract fundamentals, ongoing supply deficits, and elevated risks from production interruptions, supporting the case for upward pressure on both spot and contract prices.
Westinghouse continues to outperform, with new reactor build announcements prompting upward consensus revisions. Cameco lifted its 2025 adjusted EBITDA outlook for Westinghouse, driven by strong licensing contributions and sustained growth from its core fuel and services business. The company reiterated its conservative 5-year Westinghouse revenue and EBITDA growth targets, treating the lower bound as de-risked and flagging material upside as additional builds progress. Management’s guidance excludes business not yet at final investment decision, signalling further upside is likely as global nuclear momentum accelerates.
Guzman y Gomez (GYG.AX)
Guzman y Gomez (GYG) full year results were strong, with significant growth in network sales and earnings for the year that exceeded prospectus forecasts. As part of the result release, Co-CEO’s Steven Marks and Hilton Brett published a comprehensive letter to shareholders to explain their business philosophy and what they are building at GYG (link).
For the Australian business (includes Singapore and Japan) comparable Sales Growth was strong across all channels, dayparts, formats and ownership types. Thirty-two new restaurants were opened in Australia, including 13 corporate and 19 franchise restaurants. Four new restaurants were opened in Singapore, and one was opened in Japan.
In the US, network sales increased by 13% to $12.2m in FY25 driven by the opening of two new restaurants and improving momentum throughout the year. In 2H25, GYG made significant investments to improve restaurant operations which has driven a substantial improvement in the guest experience and sales performance. The company re-iterated its plan to open up to 15 restaurants in the Chicago area and is targeting AUVs of US$3m to achieve sustainable restaurant economics.
https://www.guzmanygomez.com.au/
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.NYSE)
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a leading exchange business with a near-monopoly position in key segments (energy, interest rate derivatives and agricultural commodities), reported another strong quarter. EPS was +19% year-on-year, a slight beat versus expectations. Growth was underpinned by strength in the exchange segment, driven by elevated volatility amid uncertain geopolitical conditions. This dynamic supported record trading volumes, with signs of continued strength into second half 2025. The Mortgage Technology business, whilst growing slower than initially anticipated, stands to benefit from lower rates which are expected in 2026.
Mercadolibre (MELI.NYSE)
MercadoLibre (MELI), a leader in Latin America e-commerce and fintech, delivered a solid 2Q25 result. A result highlight includes gross merchandise volume strength, +37% YOY, driven by Brazil and Mexico. Additionally, MELI continues to drive improved economics from strong advertising, and fulfilment growth. During the quarter MELI's fintech business Mercado Pago reached 68 million monthly active users (+30% YOY) and grew total payment volume +61% yoy. Magellan continue to monitor the investment required to support this growth, especially in fulfilment initiatives which are targeted at driving increased consumer adoption.
Microsoft (MSFT.NAS)
Microsoft, a leader in productivity software (with 1.5b users of Windows) and cloud computing (1 of the 3 hyperscale providers), delivered a stronger than expected quarter. Microsoft's durable and quality earnings capabilities were clear in the result, with Cloud growth accelerating to +25% driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and an increase in core workloads, and resilient M365 growth. The result was a positive signal for enterprise IT spend that is not entirely reliant on AI. Magellan remain positive on the long-term opportunities for Microsoft including cloud computing, workplace productivity software and AI.
Nvidia (NVDA.NAS)
At their Q2 earnings report, Nvidia provided strong revenue guidance for Q3, expecting to generate $54bn in quarterly revenue, which is up over $7bn sequentially. This quarterly acceleration is driven by the ramp of their new computing architecture called Blackwell, which delivers up to 10x better performance vs. the prior generation. Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, confirmed that Blackwell is in full production, moving past some technical issues faced earlier in the year with respect to the ramp.
Munro Partners see insatiable demand for Nvidia's Blackwell systems, evidenced by rising capital expenditure ambitions from the four largest hyperscalers (their biggest customers) on their recent earnings calls. Sales of the previous generation of Nvidia's GPUs also increased sequentially in Q2, which indicates that availability is still limited for Blackwell and demand still well outstrips supply. Given the dynamic geopolitical environment with respect to export controls, Nvidia refrained from including any revenue contribution from China in its guidance, that has historically been ~25% of the company's revenue, which provides upside optionality into the second half of their fiscal year should a resolution occur. Munro Partners expect this trend of strong, sequential growth in revenue and earnings to continue into 2026.
Royalty Pharma
Royalty Pharma delivered another solid, consistent 2Q25 result, with performance on track and free of surprises. Management also made a modest upgrade to full-year 2025 guidance.
Royalty Pharma completed its internalisation model in May, delivering immediate cost savings and setting up for further reductions in the second half. The company continued strong capital deployment however, capital returns also remain a priority, with an authorised $3 billion buyback program and $1 billion of shares repurchased in the first half.
https://www.royaltypharma.com/
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.NYSE)
On their Q2 earnings call, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) raised their revenue outlook for 2025 from "mid-20s" to "around 30%", which surpassed consensus expectations, driven by continued strength in revenue from high-performance computing customers amid demand for AI semiconductors. Currency remains a headwind to margins with the strength in the Taiwanese dollar, but the underlying strength of the business is shining through, and they were able to hold gross margins in the high-50s.
Margin expansion may remain limited for some time as they continue to ramp investment in US-based manufacturing capacity, but Munro Partners believe TMSC has strong pricing power, and should be able to offset any pressures. The transition to 2nm process node technology is expected to begin in late 2025, which will provide a tailwind to revenue as it attracts a higher average selling price. TSMC has a near-monopoly in advanced semiconductor manufacturing and remains one of the cheapest ways to invest in the growth of the global semiconductor industry.
Zillow (Z.NAS)
Zillow delivered another disciplined and consistent result in 2Q25, extending the steady momentum seen in prior quarters. The company’s financial profile continues to solidify, with For Sale and Rentals businesses outperforming the broader real estate market - a trend expected to persist at the top line. With cost discipline, Zillow anticipates ongoing margin expansion. Short-term fluctuations may occur intra-quarter, but the annual financial picture remains compelling, with aggregate revenue growth of 15-20%, adjusted EBITDA growth of 30%, and even stronger EPS trajectory due to ongoing share buybacks.
Importantly, this robust outlook is independent of any housing market recovery, which would provide substantial further upside to both revenue and earnings. Zillow’s balance sheet remains strong, and the company is generating free cash flow, prompting increasing investor interest in capital allocation.
Zillow repurchased share on market and will remain opportunistic with its repurchase activity. User engagement remains industry-leading, with over 240 million average monthly unique users across apps and sites (+5% YoY), firmly cementing Zillow as the #1 platform for both For Sale and Rentals and driving approximately four times the app engagement of its next closest competitor.
