Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) is up 72 percent in 2022 and is heading to more than $20 with projected earnings of $1.25 for the year. SOS made the ICTOP15 list in January at 12 spot to produce a 200 percent gain for the year. It came into TOP10 in the week ending January 21, in the 6th spot and exited the TOP10 on the week ending April 22.
Stationery & Office Supplies – Montego Bay office.
Over the past two weeks, company results have been coming out fast and furious, with many posting solid increased profits over the first quarter of 2021, as the economy continues to recover and cost savings also takes hold to help lift profits to record levels in many cases.
One company to benefit from improved results for the first quarter results to March is SOS, with revenues rising 37 percent to $427 million and profits surging 344 percent to $81 million before gains from the sale of a property, investors belated warmed to the stock pushing it to a 52 week’s high of $11.02 and out of ICTOP10. Based on the results, ICInsider.com upgraded earnings from $1.10 to $1.25. Investors in the stock can look for a possible stock split this year if the price rises.
It is well worth noting that the Junior Market peaked at 4,669.78 points at the market opening on May 10 and pulled back to 4,444.25 on Friday as new quarterly results tempered investors in some overvalued stocks that have started to adjust downwards as reality sets in. Among them is Fesco, which was selling at a PE of 50 times the current year’s earnings. There seem to be more painful adjustments to come for investors in this stock. MailPac also suffered a reversal in price after the first quarter results disappointed investors, with lower revenues and earnings.
It is not unusual for investors to take a break after mid-May each year, with most results released and return in late June or early July just ahead of the new earnings season for the half year. Against this background, trading could move sideways for a month or two, but the Lasco companies, Access and Medical Disposables could light up the market when they release results in a few weeks.
Berger Paints annual report had good news for investors to digest.
In the Main Market, Jamaica Stock Exchange was added to the ICTOP10 recently but slipped out last week and reported solid results for the March quarter, with profit jumping 84 percent after revenues rose 37 percent. The projected earnings were downgraded to $1.30 from $3, leaving the stock just about appropriately valued. Berger Paints came out with solid earnings, resulting in our projection being upgraded from $1.70 to $2.35, helped by a sharp cut in other operating expenses from $160 million in 2021 to $117 million and now heads the Main Market TOP10 list.
Elite Diagnostic gained 3 percent for the week at $4, but the promise that the company showed when it was listed has started to show again, with revenues in the third quarter rising 24 percent to $161 million and profit surging to $28 million from $4.4 million in 2021. Based on the results, earnings for the current year ending in June are projected at 24 cents and 55 cents for the 2022/23 fiscal year.
Former ICTOP10 listing, Tropical Battery earnings were downgraded to 18 cents per share for this year, following the release of March half year results.
Access Financial jumped 22 percent last week, and is down 16 percent this past week at $21.50, and attracted more buying interest as the release of year results approaches. tTech tumbled 8 percent during the week and AMG Packaging 7 percent. Caribbean Assurance Brokers was the only stock with any meaningful gain, with a rise of 6 percent.
This week, there was no change to ICInsider.com TOP10 Main Market listings, but the Junior Market has two, with Lasco Distributors just slipping out. Jetcon Corporation suffered a big price decline during the week to close at $1.35 to reenter the list. tTech earnings were revised down to 25 cents after the company posted flat sales in the first quarter and a small loss and fell out of the top listing to be replaced by Dolphin Cove is poised to grow much more this year as improving tourism traffic that April numbers show is virtually back to normal provide a big boost to future earnings.
Investors should be on the lookout for companies with March year end that have not yet reported earnings. Amongst the grouping are the three Lasco companies that could get price moving punch from the results. Watch also Access and Medical Disposables sitting on the TOP of the list, with the company said to be generating profit from the acquisition of Cornwall Enterprises, well ahead of the two year target. ICInsider.com earnings projections of 70 cents per share for the 2022 fiscal year assume that earnings would include profit from the subsidiary and should result in a big jump in the stock toward $14.
The primary mover in the main market was Caribbean Cement that fell 12 percent to $61 as buying interest in the stock remains low, even as the first quarter results suggest the stock is highly undervalued, no other stock had any serious change.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 ends the week at 6.2, well below the market average of 15.3, while the Junior Market PE for the Top 10 sits at 6.3 versus the market at 13.9. The Junior Market TOP10 is projected to gain an average of 226 percent by May 2023 and the Main Market 215 percent.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list may or may not include the best companies in the market. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings to highlight winners from the rest, allowing investors to focus on potential winning stocks and helping to remove emotional attachments to stocks that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2023 and are ranked in order of potential gains, based on the possible increase for each company, considering the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
