Top 10 ASX defensive stocks to watch in 2026

Defensive stocks are shares in companies where demand for their products or services tends to remain relatively steady regardless of broader economic conditions. This list covers ten companies across seven sectors – Transurban Group ($TCL) in toll roads, Coles Group ($COL) in grocery retail and Commonwealth Bank of Australia ($CBA) in banking among them.

How we built this list: We selected these companies based on their industry. Prices are updated daily, and the list and supporting content are reviewed roughly every quarter. All data is sourced from Stake. This list isn't a recommendation and isn't ordered by suitability.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Source: Stake market data. Figures in A$. Data updated as of 10 August 2026.

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1. Commonwealth Bank of Australia ($CBA)

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) share price over the last year: started at A$178.80, ended at A$174.27, a change of −2.5%. Range over the period: high A$183.52, low A$147.22. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $174.27 · Daily: -2.1% · Market cap: $291.63B · Sector: Financials · Industry: Banking

Commonwealth Bank of Australia ($CBA) provides everyday banking to personal and private customers through its Retail Banking Services arm – accounts, home loans and private banking all fall under that umbrella. The Business Banking segment covers the needs of businesses, corporates and agribusiness clients across a broad range of financial services. On the institutional side, $CBA works with government and large corporate clients through its Institutional Banking and Markets division.

Its CommSec business adds equities trading and margin lending on top of the banking core. Across the Tasman, $CBA operates through ASB Bank, running banking and funds management in New Zealand. Under CEO Matt Comyn, the bank employs 51,346 people.

2. Wesfarmers ($WES)

Wesfarmers (WES) share price over the last year: started at A$88.75, ended at A$89.54, a change of +0.9%. Range over the period: high A$94.76, low A$71.26. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $89.54 · Daily: -0.6% · Market cap: $101.59B · Sector: Consumer Discretionary · Industry: Retail Stores

Wesfarmers ($WES) runs a collection of retail businesses that cover a wide stretch of everyday spending. Bunnings supplies home improvement products and building materials to households and trade customers. Kmart handles apparel and general merchandise, while Officeworks provides office products and solutions for households and small-to-medium-sized businesses.

$WES also holds WesCEF, which manufactures chemicals for industrial, mining and mineral processing customers, and an Industrial and Safety arm that distributes maintenance and repair products and makes workwear. Catch operates as an online marketplace, selling branded products directly and through third-party sellers. CEO Rob Scott leads a workforce of 118,000 people across the group.

3. Telstra Group Limited ($TLS)

Telstra Group Limited (TLS) share price over the last year: started at A$4.98, ended at A$5.00, a change of +0.4%. Range over the period: high A$5.55, low A$4.72. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $5.00 · Daily: 0.4% · Market cap: $55.70B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Telecom

Running mobile and fixed networks across Australia, Telstra Group Limited ($TLS) serves consumers, small businesses and large enterprises alike. CEO Vicki Brady leads a workforce of 30,533 people spread across the company's consumer, business, enterprise and infrastructure divisions.

The Digicel Pacific business extends $TLS's reach into the South Pacific, where it provides telecommunications and technology services to consumer, business and government customers. Its InfraCo segment owns and operates the physical network assets that sit beneath all of those services.

4. Transurban Group ($TCL)

Transurban Group (TCL) share price over the last year: started at A$13.80, ended at A$14.62, a change of +5.9%. Range over the period: high A$15.61, low A$13.37. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $14.62 · Daily: 0.8% · Market cap: $45.62B · Sector: Industrials · Industry: Transport Infrastructure

Transurban Group ($TCL) owns and operates a network of toll roads across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as infrastructure in Montreal and the Greater Washington Area in North America. Its Australian portfolio includes familiar corridors like CityLink and the Hills M2, while its North American roads include the 95 Express Lanes and 395 Express Lanes in Virginia. The company also has the West Gate Tunnel Project underway – an approximately 17-kilometre link between Melbourne's western suburbs and the central city.

Under chief executive Michelle Jablko, $TCL employs around 4,100 people across its development, operations and maintenance activities. Toll roads tend to feature in defensive stock discussions because the underlying demand – people needing to move between homes, workplaces and airports – doesn't shift much with economic cycles.

5. Coles Group ($COL)

Coles Group (COL) share price over the last year: started at A$20.90, ended at A$23.90, a change of +14.4%. Range over the period: high A$24.41, low A$20.35. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $23.90 · Daily: -1.2% · Market cap: $32.10B · Sector: Consumer Staples · Industry: Food & Drug Retailers

Coles Group ($COL) runs more than 840 supermarkets and roughly 998 liquor stores across Australia, selling everything from fresh produce and groceries to general merchandise and liquor. Its businesses include Coles Supermarkets, Coles Online, Coles Liquor, flybuys and Coles Financial Services, with the retail media arm Coles 360 rounding out a portfolio that goes well beyond the checkout lane.

Chief executive Leah Weckert leads a workforce of 115,000 people. Grocery and liquor demand holds up regardless of how the broader economy is performing, which is the core reason Consumer Staples names like $COL appear in lists like this one.

6. QBE Insurance Group Limited ($QBE)

QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE) share price over the last year: started at A$21.44, ended at A$23.91, a change of +11.5%. Range over the period: high A$25.76, low A$18.83. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $23.91 · Daily: -2.1% · Market cap: $35.72B · Sector: Financials · Industry: Insurance

QBE Insurance Group Limited ($QBE) underwrites general insurance and reinsurance across three operating segments: North America, International, and Australia Pacific. The North America segment covers general insurance, reinsurance and crop business in the U.S. The International segment writes business through Lloyd's of London, offices across the UK, Europe and Canada, and direct insurance in markets including Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam.

The Australia Pacific segment underwrites general insurance across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region. Under CEO Andrew Horton, $QBE employs 13,196 people globally. Its spread across geographies and insurance lines means the business isn't tied to the fortunes of any single market or product category.

7. Brambles Limited ($BXB)

Brambles Limited (BXB) share price over the last year: started at A$23.00, ended at A$20.43, a change of −11.2%. Range over the period: high A$26.56, low A$16.40. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $20.43 · Daily: 0.4% · Market cap: $27.29B · Sector: Basic Materials · Industry: Containers & Packaging

Brambles Limited ($BXB) owns and manages a global pool of reusable pallets and containers, renting them out under the CHEP brand to manufacturers and retailers. The pallets carry goods through supply chains – from factories to warehouses to store shelves – then get collected and put back into circulation.

$BXB's operations cover the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Around 12,000 employees keep that network running under CEO Graham Chipchase.

8. APA Group ($APA)

APA Group (APA) share price over the last year: started at A$8.63, ended at A$9.89, a change of +14.6%. Range over the period: high A$10.87, low A$8.47. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $9.89 · Daily: -0.2% · Market cap: $13.09B · Sector: Utilities · Industry: Natural Gas

APA Group ($APA) sits at the backbone of Australia's energy network. The company owns and operates gas transmission pipelines, compression and storage facilities, electricity transmission lines, and renewable generation assets including wind and solar projects across the country.

Its gas storage operations include the Mondarra Gas Storage and Processing Facility and the Dandenong LNG Gas Storage Facility. Beyond its own assets, $APA also manages and operates energy infrastructure on behalf of third parties through its asset management segment – a business built around the day-to-day running of critical energy systems rather than the commodity prices flowing through them.

9. TPG Telecom Limited ($TPG)

TPG Telecom Limited (TPG) share price over the last year: started at A$5.29, ended at A$3.61, a change of −31.8%. Range over the period: high A$5.69, low A$3.51. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $3.61 · Daily: -0.3% · Market cap: $7.09B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Telecom

TPG Telecom Limited ($TPG) owns and operates the Vodafone mobile network across Australia. It also runs a portfolio of brands – TPG, iiNet, Internode, Lebara and felix – serving residential customers across fixed broadband and mobile.

The Consumer segment covers those residential and small office/home office customers. The Enterprise, Government and Wholesale segment handles mobile and fixed services for corporations, government agencies and wholesale partners.

CEO Inaki Berroeta leads $TPG's 2,745 employees across those operations.

10. NEXTDC Limited ($NXT)

NEXTDC Limited (NXT) share price over the last year: started at A$14.34, ended at A$14.40, a change of +0.4%. Range over the period: high A$17.71, low A$11.08. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: $14.40 · Daily: 0.8% · Market cap: $10.94B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

NEXTDC Limited ($NXT) builds and operates data centres across Australia, offering businesses somewhere to physically house their servers and IT infrastructure. That arrangement – colocation – means customers rent space, power and cooling from $NXT rather than running facilities of their own. The company describes its centres as Tier III and Tier IV rated, with redundancy and continuous availability at their core.

Beyond the physical facilities, fewer than 750 cloud providers, networks and IT service providers connect within $NXT's infrastructure, giving customers access to a range of platforms in one place. The company holds NABERS 5-star certification and says its operations are focused on sustainability and renewable energy. Craig Scroggie serves as CEO.

Common questions

How do I invest in ASX defensive stocks in Australia?

All ten companies in this list trade on the ASX, so you can buy them through a share trading platform using each company's ASX ticker. Each is a separate listed stock, so building exposure across multiple names means buying them individually. The companies here cover seven sectors – from supermarkets and toll roads to telecommunications and energy infrastructure – so the mix of industry exposure shifts considerably depending on which ones you hold.

What are the key risks of ASX defensive stocks?

Defensive stocks can be more resilient through economic downturns than more cyclical companies, but several risks remain. Infrastructure and utility businesses tend to carry significant debt, which makes their finances sensitive to interest rate movements. Companies operating internationally – QBE underwrites insurance across multiple geographies, and Brambles runs pallet pooling across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific – face currency risk when earnings outside Australia convert back to Australian dollars. Company-specific pressures also persist: regulatory changes affect banks, competitive dynamics shift in telecommunications, and consumer behaviour evolves in retail.

What makes a stock "defensive"?

The term describes companies whose revenue tends to hold relatively steady through economic cycles, because demand for what they provide doesn't swing sharply with consumer confidence. Supermarkets keep selling groceries, toll roads keep collecting revenue from regular traffic, utilities keep delivering energy, and banks keep processing everyday transactions – regardless of whether the broader economy is expanding or contracting. Stability is the core characteristic, but it's a matter of degree, and company-specific risks still apply within any sector.

Disclaimer

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. When you invest, your capital is at risk. You should consider your own investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs before making an investment decision. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may receive back less than your original investment. As always, do your own research and consider seeking appropriate financial advice before investing.

This is not personal financial advice nor a recommendation to invest in the securities listed. Any advice provided by Stake is of general nature only and does not take into account your specific circumstances. Trading and volume data from the Stake investing platform is for reference purposes only, the investment choices of others may not be appropriate for your needs and is not a reliable indicator of performance.

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