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.
Honeywell Flour Mills is the second-best performing stock on the NGX in H1 2025, delivering an impressive 241.3% return.
The stock opened the year at N6.75 and surged to N21.50. Its rally is largely driven by a remarkable financial turnaround, reporting a N12.28 billion pre-tax profit in the first nine months of 2025, a reversal from a N8.83 billion loss in the same period last year.
On valuation, Honeywell trades at a P/E of 11.68x, a P/B of 4.74x, and a P/S of 0.38x, suggesting it’s still reasonably valued relative to earnings and revenue.
A beta of 0.45 indicates moderate volatility. With improving fundamentals and strong market interest, Honeywell appears to be a recovering stock with more upside potential.
