On this day last year, global stocks capped off a historic one-month collapse with another epic fall.
While no one knew at the time, that marked the COVID-19 nadir.
Over the course of the following week, governments around the world said just stay at home, we’ll pay for it.
And by the end of April, the ASX had posted its biggest monthly gain in 32 years (off the March lows).
The ensuing 12 months have given rise to a unique post-COVID bull run, led by high-growth tech stocks and commodity plays in a low-rates environment awash with government stimulus.
At the small cap end of the ASX, that’s resulted in no less than 61 companies recording an annual gain of 1,000pc or more.
Among some barnstorming returns, Malaysia-based fintech IOUpay (ASX:IOU) led the pack with a gain of 6,971pc.
Here are the biggest winners since markets bottomed out at the height of the pandemic panic:
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.
Code Company Price 1Y return MktCap$ IOU IOUpay Limited 0.495 6971% $ 267,434,851.53 UUL Ultima Utd Ltd 0.95 5838% $ 34,824,326.70 TMZ Thomson Res Ltd 0.1375 5470% $ 45,795,801.20 CRO Cirralto Ltd 0.098 5131% $ 197,983,063.86 BTR Brightstar Resources 0.048 4700% $ 21,547,787.44 PRL Province Resources 0.175 3862% $ 155,824,766.10 3DP Pointerra Limited 0.675 3275% $ 449,023,369.48 VUL Vulcan Energy 6.55 3175% $ 679,174,097.92 CHN Chalice Mining Ltd 4.83 3016% $ 1,663,413,916.19 PUR Pursuit Minerals 0.086 2977% $ 60,317,037.09 RNU Renascor Res Ltd 0.1525 2950% $ 233,199,376.76 RHY Rhythm Biosciences 1.38 2768% $ 275,144,157.02 FFG Fatfish Group 0.1125 2713% $ 107,967,775.30 LRS Latin Resources Ltd 0.054 2600% $ 71,401,309.16 SRN Surefire Rescs NL 0.026 2500% $ 26,331,849.84 E25 Element 25 Ltd 2.68 2336% $ 355,461,194.32 DW8 Digital Wine Venture 0.11 2100% $ 182,962,923.33 BRN Brainchip Ltd 0.715 2067% $ 1,222,302,858.00 AHI Adv Human Imag Ltd 2 1900% $ 264,661,012.17 AQS Aquis Ent Ltd 0.31 1838% $ 11,072,944.56 TAO TAO Commodities 0.82 1722% $ 87,629,376.40 ACS Accent Resources NL 0.09 1700% $ 44,272,591.89 ADO Anteotech Ltd 0.245 1650% $ 468,440,241.50 NTI Neurotech Intl 0.07 1650% $ 44,070,313.39 MGT Magnetite Mines 0.036 1505% $ 99,974,443.35 LCY Legacy Iron Ore 0.016 1500% $ 102,475,816.27 PLL Piedmont Lithium Ltd 1.055 1429% $ 1,474,292,029.17 ZEO Zeotech Limited 0.076 1420% $ 107,478,838.80 EXR Elixir Energy Ltd 0.315 1400% $ 267,299,363.10 NVX Novonix Limited 2.65 1373% $ 990,697,425.00 ADN Andromeda Metals Ltd 0.365 1360% $ 798,174,295.99 FYI FYI Resources Ltd 0.58 1350% $ 192,657,593.40 SZL Sezzle Inc 8.2 1339% $ 836,202,367.67 XST Xstate Resources 0.014 1300% $ 37,654,225.22 ONE Oneview Healthcare 0.415 1293% $ 163,093,037.36 RAC Race Oncology Ltd 3.82 1264% $ 541,166,846.13 RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.027 1250% $ 12,213,078.38 ACB A-Cap Energy Ltd 0.067 1240% $ 58,416,286.02 GRV Greenvale Mining Ltd 0.18 1213% $ 61,457,328.72 ELT Elementos Limited 0.013 1200% $ 42,360,339.06 PDI Predictive Disc Ltd 0.076 1184% $ 75,259,619.27 CXO Core Lithium 0.23 1178% $ 264,153,882.15 IVZ Invictus Energy Ltd 0.14 1173% $ 66,835,975.92 AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.025 1150% $ 43,893,472.30 VML Vital Metals Limited 0.074 1133% $ 189,903,318.16 MAN Mandrake Res Ltd 0.16 1131% $ 51,483,617.40 BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.105 1111% $ 73,141,132.79 NWC New World Resources 0.072 1100% $ 97,687,020.17 AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.012 1100% $ 8,527,912.12 MSM MSM Corporation Intl 0.059 1080% $ 49,702,383.87 JPR Jupiter Energy 0.047 1075% $ 7,208,751.57 EGR Ecograf Limited 0.645 1073% $ 298,014,165.65 RBL Redbubble Limited 5.76 1064% $ 1,559,616,278.70 IXR Ionic Rare Earths 0.058 1060% $ 184,927,171.81 SOR Strategic Elements 0.45 1054% $ 172,162,850.41 SE1 Sensera Ltd 0.068 1033% $ 21,995,783.61 PBH Pointsbet Holdings 14.4 1010% $ 2,611,778,805.92 AGE Alligator Energy 0.022 1000% $ 44,771,946.41 AYM Australia United Min 0.011 1000% $ 20,268,352.34 KTE K2 Energy Ltd 0.044 1000% $ 13,228,914.64 SAN Sagalio Energy Ltd 0.022 1000% $ 4,502,522.86
After climbing off the mat from less than 1c to a trading range of around 15c at the start of this year, IOU shares surged higher in February as sophisticated investors backed the company with a $50m share placement priced at 50c per share, to pursue its BNPL strategy in the Malaysian market.
Another massive fintech winner was payments company Cirralto (ASX:CRO), which surged from 0.5c in July last year to highs above 12c in February.
It came amid some torrid trading activity in Cirralto shares, which saw the stock rise to an intra-day high above 20c on February 17 before falling back.
This morning, the company responded to an ASX query regarding a breach of the company’s Trading Policy in connection with a disposal of shares by CEO Adrian Floate.
As part of its response, the Cirralto board said it plans to undertake a review of the firm’s Trading Policy which will include additional compliance steps.
Stockhead’s Nick Sundich has also provided a recap of 10 stocks that posted annual gains of more than 2,000 per cent since March 2020.
The post One year on: The top ASX performers since COVID-19 doomsday on March 23, 2020 appeared first on Stockhead.
