Earnings season is almost at an end except for a few companies with March year end that are to release results for the full year by the end of May that will impact the price of some ICTOP 10 stocks. Riches are abundant in several Main and Junior Markets stocks, but some patience may be warranted to get the most from them.
The ICTOP10 shows the benefit of ranking stocks based on their potential to grow and emphasizing those. Investors do not have to chase overpriced stocks based on some wish list of abundance fortunes is near. Sticking with undervalued stocks is the best formula for wealth creation.
The focus shifts to 2022/23 earnings as the reporting season ends. At the close of the past week, seven stocks from the previous Junior Market ICTOP10 carry over to the 2022/23 list and five for the Main Market. Dropping out of the Junior Market list are Lasco Distributors, Lasco Manufacturing and Iron Rock Insurance. Dropping from the Main Market for the coming period are Jamaica Broilers, 138 Student Living, Proven Investments, Pan Jamaica Investment and SygnusUS dollar share.
Heading the new list are Productivity Business Solutions, Guardian Holdings, Sygnus Credit Investments, Jamaica Stock Exchange and JMMB Group in the Main Market. At the same time, the Junior Market’s top five are Elite Diagnostic, Medical Disposables, Jetcon Corporation, Caribbean Cream and Access Financial Services. Most of the Junior Market companies suffered from fallout in the economy in 2020 and beyond due to the Covid19 and are recovering. Some of these could deliver above average gains.
The average PE for 2022-3 fiscal year is 13.1 for the Junior Market, down from 22.8 for the 2021/22 fiscal year and 13.5 for the Main and USD Markets compared to 16.6.
There were no changes to the ICTOP10 stocks in the Main and Junior Market in the past week based on 2021 and early 2022 earnings, but there were some notable performances. 
Lasco Manufacturing rose 14 percent to close the week at $5.70, AMG Packaging popped 13 percent to $3.15, while Caribbean Assurance Brokers put in a 9 percent rise to close the week at $2.40. Iron Rock Insurance and Tropical Battery added 6 percent to close at $3.60 and $2.62, respectively. In the Main Market, JMMB Group rose 7 percent to $45.95 and Jamaica Broilers lost 7 percent to end at $27.25.
Both markets continue to offer attractive gains for the TOP10 based on recent full year earnings up to March.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.3, well below the market average of 13.5, while the Junior Market PE for the Top 10 is at 6.3 versus the market at 13.1.
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. They 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.
The Junior Market potential gains for the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks stand at 109 percent, much lower than the Main Market at 137 percent, an indication that Main Market is greatly undervalued. The top three stocks in the Junior Market are Elite Diagnostic, Medical Disposables followed by
The average PE for Junior Market is well ahead of the average of 17 times 2020 earnings achieved at the end of March last year in moving to 21.8 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings, pushed up mainly by five stocks, with EduFocal and Main Event over 100 times 2021 earnings. Excluding the 5 highest PE ratios over 40, the average would be around 18. The JSE Main and USD Markets at 15.8 is well off from 19 in 2021. The TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of a mere 8.6, with a 45 percent discount to that market’s average.
The depressed PE of the main market is an indication that bigger investors are reluctant to be aggressive in buying into the market currently, with inflation, rising interest rates and war populating the headlines.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2022 and 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 per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Caribbean Assurance Brokers come back in the Junior Market list, while Sterling Investments makes it back to the Main Market listing at the expense of TransJamacian Highway after just one week, but investors should keep an eye for this one.
During the past week, the Junior Market TOP10 listed Access Financial, Lasco Financial and Iron Rock Insurance gained 6 percent each while Medical Disposables fell 9 percent and Tropical Battery slipped 5 percent. In the Main Market, the primary movers are Guardian Holdings with a 4 percent gain, while JMMB Group fell 7 percent and Proven Investments declined by 5 percent.
The potential gains for Main Market stocks moved from 124 percent last week to this weeks’ 127 percent, with the top three being JMMB Group followed by Guardian Holdings and Sygnus Credit Investments all projected to gain between 168 and 193 percent versus 161 and 193 percent last week.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market is 21 percent less than the PE of 19 at the end of March and 24 percent below the target of 20 to the end of March this year. The Main Market TOP 10 average PE is 9 representing a 43 percent discount to the market, well below the potential of 20. Around 15 stocks or a thirty percent of the market trade at or above a PE of 19, with most over 20, for an average roundabout 25, suggesting that the accepted multiple is between 20 and 25 times current year’s earnings. The depressed PE of the main market may be indicating that bigger investors are reluctant to be aggressive in buying into the market currently with inflation, rising interest rates and war populating the headlines.
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.
In a week when the Junior Market came back to life to close at a new record high on Friday, following a new record on Thursday, the market index closed on Friday over the 4,100 mark for the first time and ended at 4,168.16, with a 21.6 percent gain for the year to date. At the same time, the Main Market continues to consolidate around the 440,000 points level, on the All Jamaica Composite Index. 
In TOP10 developments this week, returning to the Junior Market are 
are trading at or above this level, averaging around 23.
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.