The Best, and Worst, on the JSE in 2025

🌍 Worldwide Markets — Episode 660 🎙️ The Best and Worst of the JSE in 2025 📅 10 December 2025 🎧 Final episode of the year — back 14 January 2026 💼 Powered by Standard Bank Global Markets & Shyft 🏁 Opening Thoughts Last podcast of 2025! 🎉 A huge thank-you to listeners, watchers and everyone who engaged across the year 🙏 A wild year for markets, but a great year for returns 📈 Wishing everyone a restful and safe festive break ✈️🌞 🎥 Power Hour Recap — Position Your Portfolio for 2026 📌 Highlights included: 🔙 Looking back at 2025's predictions (keeping it honest!) 🤖 The state of AI: spotting bubbles, when to worry, triggers to watch 💰 Gold & commodities outlook 🛍️ Local retail — opportunities & risks 🚀 IPO environment 🧭 Positioning for 2026 Watch here. 🥇 Best Performers of the JSE in 2025 🪙 1. Precious Metals: The Dominant Theme of 2025 Gold & PGM miners absolutely owned the market this year. If you weren't in them… your portfolio lagged the benchmark. Top returns (total return to 8 Dec): 🥇 Sibanye-Stillwater* — +258% 🤯 🥈 AngloGold Ashanti* — ~+240% 🥉 Northam — +214% 🏅 Gold Fields — +195% Implats — +153% Thungela / Valterra / others — 130–140% range Harmony — +119% 📌 Why the boom? Gold price exploded early in the year 🌕 Safe-haven flows amid tariff drama, budgets, DeepSeek shock Strong production + not-yet-expensive valuations 💬 Simon: Still bullish on gold miners — not expecting another double, but valuations remain attractive if gold holds current levels. 🎓 2. Education Sector Winners 🎓 Stadio — +89% 🧑‍🏫 Killed it with distance learning demand and tertiary approvals 📉 Curo delisted; ADvTech* solid with +20% 🟣 3. Purple Group* & EasyEquities +87% 🚀 Bull markets = busy brokers Results were slightly soft in H2 (bonuses cycle), but long-term story intact 📡 4. Telcos Roar Back (From a Very Low Base) 📱 MTN — +76% 🔵 Blue Label — +73% (Cell C momentum) 🔌 IOCA — +65% ☎️ Telkom — +60% 🟥 Vodacom — +38% 📌 Simon sold MTN a decade ago during the Nigerian fine panic — and never re-entered. Lesson: When it's time to panic, panic fast. 💰 5. Standout Financials & Miscellaneous 🟪 Sygnia — +72% 💻 Datatec — +70% (surprise performer) 🍗 Astral — +49% (thanks, cheaper maize!) 🐓 Rainbow Chicken — +43% 🏢 Growthpoint — +48% (big dividends) 🧱 Property sector broadly strong again: Redefine, Octodec, etc. 🏦 PSG Financial Services — +40% 💼 Capitec — +29% 🏦 Standard Bank — +31% — notably ahead of Capitec 🟧 Naspers — +25% (Simon sees opportunity post-share split) 🛢️ Sasol — +25% (still not a favourite) 🛒 6. Retail: The Year's Big Disappointment 🛋️ Lewis — +22% (but deep down the list) 🥩 Spur — +15% 🍗 Famous Brands — –16% 🛒 Shoprite* — –4.6% (value emerging) 🛍️ Pick n Pay — –17% (slow turnaround) 👗 Mr Price* — –26% (Simon still sees value) 👟 Pepkor — weak, but potential for recovery 🔻 Worst Performers of the JSE in 2025 💥 Biggest Losers 🚨 Nutun / Transaction Capital legacy — –52% 👗 Foschini* (TFG) — –50% 📄 Sappi — –46% (ongoing structural challenges) 🧱 Afrimat — –43% (Lafarge integration still tough; Simon sees opportunity) 💉 Aspen — –43% (lost sterile facility contract; utilization still weak) 🔧 Cashbuild — –37% (SA consumers tapped out) 📺 eMedia — heavy selling post-unbundling 🛒 Retailers Under Pressure 🥀 Spar — –28% (competition from Boxer + Shoprite* + Pick n Pay) 👖 Mr Price* — –26% 🍔 Famous Brands — –16% 🍩 Life Healthcare, Renergen*, ArcelorMittal SA — all struggling 📉 Macro, Risks & 2026 Outlook 🌱 Green Shoots in South Africa Early signs of improvement appearing Fragile but real: improving volumes, some recovery in SA Inc, stabilising consumer pockets REITs & banks starting from low valuations ⚠️ Risks Moody's kept SA unchanged; risks tilt to the downside A global AI bubble burst would hit emerging markets hard External shocks more dangerous than local issues 📈 Global Watch: The Mag 7 & Market Signals Bubble warning model: Two giants below the 200-day MA Meta dipped back below — but still only one of the seven triggering Nvidia chart still healthy Gold still bullish Oil looks very weak 🤝 Closing the Year Simon wraps 2025 with gratitude and optimism: ✨ "It's been a year — a wild one — but at least we got returns." ❄️ Be safe this festive season 🙌 Special thanks to those working through December (retail, hospitality, logistics) 🎙️ Back 14 January 2026 with the annual predictions show featuring Keith McLachlan & Marc Ashton — and, as always, they'll mark themselves before forecasting ahead. 🔗 Powered By 🏦 Standard Bank Global Markets 🌍 Shyft – the global money app 💸 Cheapest Forex rates, anywhere, anytime Simon Brown * I hold ungeared positions. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order