![\"Commonwealth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/commonwealth-bank_4256.png\")
Commonwealth Bank is the latest to feel the wrath. \u00b7 Getty <\/p>\n Commonwealth Bank is the latest to feel the wrath. \u00b7 Getty <\/p>\n
After years of heady rises and gravity-defying valuations, \u201ccracks are staring to appear\u201d in the Australian equities markets<\/a>, analysts say. Commonwealth Bank was the latest high-flying bluechip stock to come crashing down this week.<\/p>\n Commonwealth Bank<\/a> had nearly $30 billion wiped from its valuation on Wednesday. Its share price fell 10 per cent after posting a 4 per cent rise in profit to $2.7 billion for the quarter but said it was increasing provisions for bad debts<\/a>.<\/p>\n For some of the biggest companies on the ASX, their precipitous falls lately, while driven by market updates, have raised concerns that Aussies investors \u2013 and the superannuation accounts of 19 million workers \u2013 are facing a looming, long-term technical collapse, says Filip Tortevski, a senior analyst at Wealth Within.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cracks for me are starting to appear, structurally, more so than just the one day move,\u201d he told Yahoo Finance.<\/p>\n RELATED<\/p>\n Analysts were left scratching their heads last year<\/a> when CBA stock hit $190 a share, putting the bank at a price to earnings ratio of more than 33 times \u2013 a greater multiple than many fast growing tech stocks in the US.<\/p>\n \u201cSince 2020, it started to act like a tech stock and and that’s not normal,\u201d Tortevski said.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now we are we moving back to that rate of growth where it makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n He also pointed to healthcare giants CSL and Cochelar which have both faced struggles with their business<\/a> and lost their shine as darlings of the ASX, each falling more than 65 per cent from their highs in the past year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is probably in a similar vein to what’s happening with CSL and Cochlear right now. They’re reverting back to their long term sustainable rate of growth.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd obviously everything else that’s going on with the economy \u2013 the slow growth and and all of that plays into it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Commbank shareholders warned of 50 per cent fall <\/p>\n If the structural reset continues, Tortevski believe a 50 per cent decline from the recent highs is around the corner for Commbank shareholders this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it does move back and revert to what is a sustainable rate of growth, we’re looking at $100 to $95 [per share] on the way down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He pointed to the ballooning funds in superannuation and the rise of the most popular ETFs as helping fuel some of the higher valuations ASX megacaps have enjoyed in recent years.<\/p>\n Story continues <\/p>\n \u201cWe’re just seeing money pour into the same stocks, which is very different to how the market was operating 5 to 10 years ago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But now sellers are taking control.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do see a concentration of money flying in which is purely based more on momentum rather than real valuations. At some point the market’s going to realise this and reset itself. And I think we\u2019re potentially at the start of that now,\u201d Tortevski said.<\/p>\n Budget changes to CGT could inject \u2018volatility\u2019 into markets <\/p>\n Yet to be legislated changes announced this week in the Federal Budget to the tax treatment of capital gains has many in the industry expecting a move towards lower risk assets that produce higher yield, but Tortevski thinks removing the incentive to hold for at least 12 months will make investors quicker to panic sell.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what it’s going to do to the market is it’s going to make it a lot more volatile. I mean, you’ve got to think now there’s no incentive to buy and hold a stock really,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With the removal of the 50 per cent tax discount on gains for shares held for more than a year<\/a>, he believes investors will be much quicker to sell in a downturn, rather than holding through cycles and waiting for shares to bounce back in order to secure the tax benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s going to be a lot more short term trader participation and that will accentuate the volatility,\u201d Tortevski said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we might be seeing a shift now by investors thinking, well hang on a second. Maybe it is time to start to become active in the market and really take control \u2026 and sell well, and take the profits when they arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n In the wake of Tuesday\u2019s budget decision to whack shareholders who enjoy strong returns with a higher rate of tax, the CEO of the Australian Shareholders Association Rachel Waterhouse argued \u201ctax changes should not discourage long-term share investment\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWealth accumulators and working professionals also need confidence to invest for the long term outside superannuation and the family home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Get the latest Yahoo Finance news – follow us on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n