The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) posted a moderate 16.57% year-to-date return in the first half of 2025; a slower pace compared to the 33.81% rally recorded during the same period last year.
Despite this, several individual stocks significantly outperformed the broader market, delivering triple-digit returns and signaling investor appetite for turnaround stories, growth plays, and speculative opportunities.
What drove the outperformance?
- Strong earnings surprises: Many top performers delivered breakout Q1 results that caught the market’s attention.
- Valuation re-ratings: Investors responded to stocks with low historical P/Es and recovering fundamentals.
- Speculative flows: Some penny and illiquid stocks gained sharply on sentiment, not just fundamentals.
- Sector rotation: Agriculture, healthcare, and industrials saw increased traction as investors diversified beyond banking and oil.
From Beta Glass’s fundamentals-backed rally to Smart Products’ speculative surge, the first half of 2025 produced a wide mix of winners; some still reasonably valued, others priced for perfection.
Here’s a closer look at the top 10 NGX stocks by share price performance.
Presco Plc is the 8th stock with a year-to-date performance of 168.42%. The stock began the year at a share price of N475 per share, but closed June at N1,275, well in the green.
Within this, the stock closed 4 consecutive months out of 6 in the green, with most movements occurring in June when it gained 35.6%.
Presco’s fundamentals likely influenced positive sentiment, with a pre-tax profit of N58.6 billion in Q1 2025, up 97.6% YoY.
Presco combines fair earnings valuation (PE 12.8x) with premium pricing on assets and revenue, showing the market expects it to keep delivering strong returns.
While it’s not the cheapest, its performance, asset base, and stable beta make it a solid growth play, especially for investors looking for Agri-sector exposure with upside.
