Much is happening currently in the Jamaica stock market, for earnings season for the second quarter of the year is mostly over and it produced a mix of results some of which affected the price of the stocks at the same time the Junior market recorded only two days of gains for August to date while the Main Market is lower than the close of July.
Interest rates on Bank of Jamaica CDs fell below 9 percent this past week from a high of nearly 12 percent in March this year as inflation continues to moderate and is within the BOJ-mandated target of 4 to 6 percent for all but two months of the year, setting the stage for permanent ease in interest rates.
Several companies reported increased costs that were not recovered from revenue growth, with some having lower revenues, compounding the problem for these companies. Yet there were some positive results. One such is Elite Diagnostic with fourth quarter results of 9 cents per share an indication of a big hike in the 2025 results. ICInsider.com forecast is for 45 cents per share, putting the stock in the number 2 position on the All JSE ICTOP10 as well as the Junior Market at the same time Consolidated Bakeries Is out of both listings, having reported a loss in the second quarter.
The All JSE ICTOP10 represents the ten best stocks to profit from on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The list had two changes, with Iron Rock Insurance and Consolidated Bakeries dropping out and replaced by Elite Diagnostic and Pulse Investments.
In the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10, VM Investments gained 20 percent to $3.34 and Jamaica Broilers gained just 4 percent to $35. Berger Paints fell 14 percent to $6.36 and Pulse Investments lost 4 percent to close at $1.53.
In the Junior Market TOP10, Consolidated Bakeries surged 26 percent following a sharp drop in the previous week to close at $2.01, Caribbean Assurance jumped 17 percent to $3.50 and Iron Rock Insurance rose 5 percent to $3.15. Caribbean Cream fell 11 percent to $3.05 and tTech dropped 10 percent to $2.07.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at just 4.9, well below the market average of 13.7 and the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 5.9, just over half of the market, with an average of 12.2.
The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 323 percent by May 2025, based on 2024 forecasted earnings and providing better values than the Junior Market with the potential to achieve 267 percent over the same period.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 16 of the most highly valued stocks representing 31 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 102, with an average of 29 and 20 excluding the highest PE ratios and a PE of 22 for the upper half and 17 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
In the Junior Market IC TOP10 are 9 stocks, or 18 percent of the market, with PEs ranging from 15 to 22 and a PE of 16 for the upper half.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but this is not always so. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns on or around May 2025 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting 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.
