Having fallen badly in the previous week, the Junior Market rallied a solid 5.2 percent the past week to end up above 3,800 points on Thursday and Friday and the Main Market rose 1.2 percent to close out the week, with the Junior Market ICTOP 10 blazing a trail with some lofty gains and the Main Market posting just two stocks with notable gains and a few losses of size, with one new stock entering the TOP10.
Other than the b moves in the TOP10, the market got some good news this past week. For one Jamaica Broilers reported positive full year results that were helped by a $2.3 billion one off gain, excluding those gains normal profits would have been in the order of $4.80 when taxes relating to the capital gains are excluded. The other positive news is that the Bank of Jamaica will officially start to ease the tight monetary policy pursued over the past three years. In reality, they commenced easing in early May, with CD rates falling from 11.59 percent in early April to mostly under 10 percent during June.
The other news of worth is that GDP growth for the March quarter was 1.4 percent, but that reflects a slowdown from last year and an even slower December quarter that was 1.7 percent. The latest GPD data and other available information suggest the evidence of a slow down. These include reduced first quarter results of several companies and a decline in tourist arrivals in the second quarter, suggesting that the second quarter is likely to grow at an even slower pace than the first. The positive take from any economic slowdown is that the tight monetary policy that the country is in will be eased further.
JSE Main Market had three winners and four losers. The Junior Market ended with six winners and three losers.
The Junior Market ICTOP10 saw Dolla Financial surging 30 percent to $3 followed by Consolidated Bakeries’ big recovery from last week’s big 28 percent fall and ended with a gain of 28 percent to $1.98, Access Financial gained 15 percent to end at $21.93, Caribbean Cream popped 7 percent to $3.80 and Stationery and Office Supplies rose 7 percent to close at $1.70. Declining stocks include Caribbean Assurance Brokers down 13 percent to close at $3.31 and tTech falling 9 percent to $2.10.
JMMB Group was the star performer in the Main Market TOP10, climbing 13 percent to $25.10 and Berger Paints was up 6 percent in closing at $8.52. Declining stocks are 138 Student Living and Pulse Investments dipping 6 percent to $3.86 and $1.50 respectively and Guardian Holdings dropped 4 percent to close at $345.
Dolla Financial with a 30 percent surge, dropped out of the ICTOP10 for the week and is replaced by One Great Studio.
One Great Studio was listed in September 2023 at $1 per share, the price has since slipped to a low of 80 cents per share following first quarter profit that fell 55 percent to $10 million from $23 million in 2023, following a fall in revenues from $115 million to $91 million.
The principal activities of the Group are to provide search engine optimisation, web design and development and software development services, with clients based in Jamaica, the wider Caribbean and other countries. The company is looking to add other services by way of a possible acquisition in the future to benefit from synergies.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5.1, well below the market average of 13.9 and the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 6.7, just over half of the market, with an average of 13.3.
The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 303 percent by May 2025, based on 2024 forecasted earnings and providing better values than the Junior Market with the potential to achieve 215 percent over the same period.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 17 of the most highly valued stocks representing 33 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 102, with an average of 30 and 19 excluding the highest PE ratios, and a PE of 24 for the top half and 16 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
In the Junior Market IC TOP10 are 14 stocks, or 30 percent of the market, with PEs ranging from 15 to 53, averaging 21, well above the market’s average. The average PE for the top half of the market is 18, possibly the lowest fair value measure for stocks currently.
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.