ASX 200 stocks with the best performance: Return, momentum, risk-vs-reward – Week 48

Welcome to ASX 200 Data Insights: Performance. At Market Index we continuously maintain an extensive database of critical financial and performance data for the Australian share market. You can find much of this data in the dedicated pages in “Stock Scans” and “Popular Pages” in the main menu above, or in our Data Insights category.

In this edition of Data Insights, we aim to bring you a summary of some of the most interesting performance data we’ve collected for the stocks listed in the S&P/ASX 200. The main criteria of focus are:

KEY DATA – RETURN-BASED METRICS

• 1-week Share Price Performance %

• 1-month Share Price Performance %

• 1-year Share Price Performance %

KEY DATA – MOMENTUM-BASED METRICS

• Share Price Performance: Furthest from 12-month low % (“Strongest”)

• Share Price Performance: Furthest from 12-month high % (“Weakest”)

KEY DATA – REWARD-VS-RISK-BASED METRICS

• 1-yr Sortino Ratio: Best

• 1-yr Sortino Ratio: Worst

Don’t worry if all these datapoints seem like a different language! For each category, we’ll provide an explanation of what it does, its importance, and how to practically use it to compare stocks across the ASX 200. If a stock is highlighted in green, it means it is a new entrant to a particular list. All of our data is accurate at the time of publication, and is based on the close of trading on Thursday 27 November.

---

KEY DATA – RETURN-BASED METRICS

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by 1-week return

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by rolling 1-week return

The best performing stocks over the last 5 trading days, a momentum scan for stocks exhibiting strong very short term positive momentum.

Bottom 20 ASX 200 Stocks by 1-week return

Bottom 20 ASX 200 Stocks by rolling 1-week return

The worst performing stocks over the last 5 trading days, a momentum scan for stocks exhibiting strong very short term negative momentum.

1-Week Return Observations 🧐

• Top 20 INS

  • Web Travel Group (WEB) beat market expectations with its H1 FY26 results, with two brokers upgrading their rating for the stock as a result (Morgan Stanley to Equal-Weight from Underweight and Morgans to Accumulate from Hold).

  • Ramsay Health Care (RHC) also enjoyed a post-update bounce, this time after reporting it’s third quarter progress. Better than expected earnings growth led Morgan Stanley to upgrade its rating on the stock to Equal-Weight from Underweight.

  • Mesoblast (MSB) reported they are expecting 37% quarter on quarter growth in gross revenue from their Ryoncil® (remestemcel-L-rknd) drug in December.

  • Qube Holdings (QUB) and National Storage Reit (NSR) each received unsolicited takeover approaches.

  • Elsewhere, it was largely a case of beaten down “High P/E Ratio” stocks in technology and biotechnology bouncing after several weeks of heavy selling… here Catapult Sports (CAT), Superloop (SLC), Telix Pharmaceuticals (TLX), Wisetech Global (WTC), Life360 (360), Light & Wonder (LNW) and Digico Infrastructure Reit (DGT) are notable.

• Bottom 20 INS

  • Critical minerals and lithium pullback! Proving these are extremely volatile times, this list is littered with several stocks that had graced the weekly winners list last week, and in several cases, for the last few weeks. Liontown Resources (LTR), IGO (IGO), Pilbara Minerals (PLS), and Mineral Resources (MIN) were notable in the lithium sector, as were Lynas Rare Earths (LYC), and Iluka Resources (ILU) in rare earths.

  • Continuing the broader "commodities selloff" theme, energy stocks were also savaged last week as crude oil and uranium prices pared back. Deep Yellow (DYL), Boss Energy (BOE), and Paladin Energy (PDN) bore the brunt of selling in the uranium sector, while coal and oil & gas stocks New Hope Corp. (NHC), Woodside Energy Group (WDS), Beach Energy (BPT), and Karoon Energy (KAR) also fared poorly.

  • Poorly received trading updates from Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN), Lovisa Holdings (LOV), and Harvey Norman Holdings (HVN) contributed to their weekly performance demise.

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by 1-month return

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by rolling 1-month return

The best performing stocks over the last month. Also included for your reference are the Top 20’s proximity to their 1-month high, e.g., “-2%” indicates the stock in question is currently 2% from its 1-month high (lower is generally considered better). This is a momentum scan for stocks exhibiting strong short-term momentum. 

1-Month Return Observations 🧐

• INS

  • Gold! Gold! Gold! 2025's hottest sector keeps keeping on, with several of its constituents joining their friends in the monthly top performers list. This week, Capricorn Metals (CMM), West African Resources (WAF), Newmont Corp. (NEM), Evolution Mining (EVN) joined the likes of Regis Resources (RRL), Westgold Resources (WGX), Perseus Mining (PRU), and Genesis Minerals (GMD).

  • Despite the pullback during the week, lithium remains a key theme among the best monthly performers, with LTR, PLS, and IGO retaining their positions in the Top 5, but bucking this trend, MIN slid from fifth to twentieth on the list!

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by 1-year return

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by rolling 12-month return. All data as per close of trade Thursday XX November.

The best performing stocks over the last year. Also included for your reference are the Top 20’s proximity to their 1-year high, e.g., “-2%” indicates the stock in question is currently 2% from its 1-year high (lower is generally considered better). This is a momentum scan for stocks exhibiting strong medium-term momentum.

1-Year Return Observations

• INS

  • A special shout out for WAF – it rejoined our lists after several months of suspension due to uncertainty over the Burkina Faso Government’s request to acquire an additional equity interest in the company's Kiaka project. In a statement on the matter, management noted negotiations were ongoing and "constructive" and that production at Kiaka had not been impacted and remained on target to meet previous guidance.

  • RRL has moved to top spot, replacing last week's leader GMD. Ever volatile Droneshield (DRO) managed to rebound from fourth to second spot after its shares bounced this week.

---

KEY DATA – MOMENTUM-BASED METRICS

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by Furthest from 1-year low % ("Strongest")

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by Furthest from rolling 1-year low % (Strongest)

More targeted than the previous 1-year return scan, it aims to highlight stocks that have staged the strongest recoveries from recent troughs and or those that have exhibited consistent momentum in the medium term. It signals investor confidence and assists in identifying market leaders and sectors that might be currently favoured by fund managers.

"Strongest" Observations

• INS

  • Few changes here, with last week's leaders largely shuffling spots. I note the addition of yet another gold stock in Vault Minerals (VAU) and the reappearance of defence stock Austal (ASB) in seventeenth place.

• OUTS

  • Uranium developer DYL was the most notable out.

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by Furthest from 1-year high % ("Weakest")

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by Furthest from 1-year high % (Weakest)

This scan highlights stocks trading furthest below their recent peaks, often reflecting weaker momentum, reduced investor conviction, or sector headwinds. It can help identify potential value opportunities if fundamentals remain intact, or conversely, warn of stocks and industries currently out of favour with fund managers.

"Weakest" Observations

• INS

  • This is a list you definitely DON'T want to see the stocks in your portfolio pop up in – but pop up they did with respect to Temple & Webster Group (TPW), IPH (IPH), Deep Yellow (DYL), and Ebos Group (EBO).

  • IPH has been a serial underperformer this year, and there's some crossover here with respect to our ASX 200 stocks with the best fundamentals series published each Thursday. The stock regularly screens near the top of the "Lowest P/E Ratio", "Lowest PEG Ratio" and "Highest Grossed-up Dividend Yield" tables. Talk about your classic "value trap"!

  • TPW could be described as somewhat of a fallen angel. It released a disappointing trading update during the week which showed slowing revenue growth (to 14% since the start of FY26, vs the 28% growth reported just in August).

• OUTS

  • Escaping the list this week were the "bouncers" CAT and ZIP – previous high flyers that had been beaten up by the market since the ASX 200's October peak. GQG Partners (GQG) is interesting because its bounce occurred despite it being a substantial underperformer in 2025.

---

KEY DATA – REWARD-VS-RISK-BASED METRICS

The Sortino Ratio is a powerful risk-reward metric. It compares excess returns to downside volatility, isolating harmful losses without penalising gains. Generally, a Sortino Ratio greater than 1.0 is considered acceptable as it signifies that the investment is generating returns above the minimum acceptable rate without taking on disproportionate downside risk. A higher Sortino Ratio is always preferred, as it signals stronger risk-adjusted performance and highlights investments delivering better returns per unit of downside risk taken.

So, rather than just pure performance (or underperformance) as per the previous lists, this is a far stronger and more relevant measure of which stocks have beaten and lagged the market on a risk-adjusted basis.

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by 1-year Sortino Ratio: Best

Top 20 ASX 200 Stocks by rolling 1-year Sortino Ratio: Best

This scan highlights the best performing ASX stocks over the last 12-months from a return vs risk perspective – i.e., these are the stocks that delivered the greatest return with the least volatility below the minimum acceptable return ("MAR") of 6% p.a.

Bottom 20 ASX 200 Stocks by 1-year Sortino Ratio: Worst

Bottom 20 ASX 200 Stocks by rolling 1-year rolling Sortino Ratio: Worst

This scan highlights the worst performing ASX stocks over the last 12-months from a return vs risk perspective – i.e., these are the stocks that delivered the least return with the greatest volatility below the minimum acceptable return ("MAR") of 6% p.a.

Reward vs Risk Observations

• GOOD

  • WAF returned to the ASX 200 this week, and to its credit, also to the best reward vs risk list.

• UGLY

  • Real estate stocks Lendlease Group (LLC), Arena Reit. (ARF), and Goodman Group (GMG) have slunk their way into the worst reward to risk list this week – an ignominious honour indeed!

  • The worst of the worst investments over the last 12 months – the Treacherous Trio of Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), HMC Capital (HMC), and Xero (XRO) – retained spots one to three, but were joined by EBO in fourth place – up from last week's eighth.

Ultimately it boils down to this: If your portfolio resembles the "Best Sortino" list, then you've done a very good job of managing your money over the last 12-months. However, if your portfolio resembles the "Worst Sortino" list, then you may need to rethink your investing strategy! 😉