Tropical Battery surges to sit on top of the ICTOP10 Junior Market listing with the company seemingly poised to earn $280 million with earnings per share of 22 cents, more than five times 2021 full year earnings, with potential for the price to deliver gains of 153 percent as the stock helped in creating a complete overhaul of the TOP 3 stocks at the end of the week.
Tropical Battery heads the Junior Market ICTOP10.
In the past week, the Junior Market came back to life and clawed back much of the 226 points lost in the previous week while the Main Market continues to consolidate around the 440,000 points level, on the All Jamaica Composite Index.
The focus this past week was on the FJP Limited IPO that opened on Monday at $1 per share and closed on Tuesday, having been oversubscribed. As the FJP offer closed, up came the third new offer for the Junior Market in 2022, with the release of the EducFocal prospectus to raise $130 million at $1 per share, with the issue opening on March 3 and expected to close shortly thereafter.
In TOP10 developments this week, returning to the Junior Market are Tropical Battery with the price slipping from last week’s $1.79 to $1.74 and Medical Disposables after the price slipped from $7.27 to $6.60 this week. 
Leaving the TOP10 this week are iCreate and Cargo Handlers. The Main Market had one change, with Carreras moving out after hitting $8.90 and Jamaica Broilers coming in to replace it.
During the week, the Junior Market TOP10 listed Cargo Handlers surged 27 percent to $8.89, iCreate rose 28 percent to close at 77 cents, while Elite Diagnostic and Lasco Distributors both lost 9 percent to end at $3.30 and $3.63 respectively and Lasco Financial lost 8 percent to close at $3.30.
In the Main Market, Carreras rose 8 percent to close of $8.90 while Sagicor Group added 6 percent to end at $57, but 138 Student Living lost 5 percent to end at $5.20.
The Junior Market potential gain for the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks has moved up from 104 percent to 113 percent, much lower than the Main Market at 125 percent. The top three stocks in the Junior Market are Tropical Battery followed by Elite Diagnostic and Lasco Distributors to gain between 120 and 153 percent, compared to 109 and 129 percent, previously.
The potential gains for Main Market stocks moved from 122 percent last week to this weeks’ 125 percent, with the top three being Guardian Holdings followed by JMMB Group and Sygnus Credit Investments all projected to gain between 161 and 180 percent versus 165 and 185 percent last week.
The average PE for Junior Market has moved to 19.4 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings and is ahead of the JSE Main Market at 16.7. In the process, the Junior Market has surpassed the average of 17 that was achieved at the end of March last year. The TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of a mere 9.5, with a 41 percent discount to that market’s average.
All the stocks in the Junior Market can gain just 3 percent to the end of March this year, based on an average PE of 20. About a third of Junior Market stocks with positive earnings are trading at or above this level, averaging around 23.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market is 16.9 just 12 percent less than the PE of 19 at the end of March and 18 percent below the target of 20 to March this year. The Main Market TOP 10 average PE is 9.1 representing a 46 percent discount to the market, well below the potential of 20. Around 17 stocks or a third 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.
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 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.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
