As a whole the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has had a terrible start to 2016 so far, sitting on a 7.5% loss year to date. But not all shares on the market have faired as badly as this, with some in particular putting on spectacular gains.
Two shares which have done just this are Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY) and Reject Shop Ltd (ASX: TRS). The question now is whether it is too late to buy these market-beaters?
Primary Health Care Limited
Primary Health Care is up a whopping 37% year to date, but I still feel there could be plenty of gains ahead. Despite difficult trading conditions brought about by the government's plans to reduce spending on frontline healthcare, the company is well on its way to producing the 21.5 cents earnings per share the market is expecting this year.
This means the shares are trading on a forward price to earnings ratio of 15.8. Which is significantly lower than industry rivals Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) and Healthscope Ltd (ASX: HSO) which trade at forward price to earnings ratios of 26 and 22.5, respectively.
With its management team stating it has projects underway to drive margin expansion and recycle capital, I expect fiscal 2017 to show strong levels of earnings growth which should bring about share price gains.
Reject Shop Ltd
Shares of Reject Shop are up almost 27% this year, or 96% if you go as far back as the last 12 months. Despite this they still sit some distance from the lofty heights of three years ago when they could be found trading at around $18.
The turnaround has been something special, and I would not be surprised to see the shares touch on $18 in the next couple of years. In the first half of fiscal 2016 the company has produced earnings growth of almost 45% year over year from its 338 stores.
The second half of the fiscal year is traditionally the weaker half for Reject Shop, but by reporting earnings per share of 64 cents in the first half it is already 6.3 cents ahead of the full year analyst consensus estimate, according to CommSec.
In its earnings release management stated that the first six weeks of the second half have started as the first half finished, with strong comparable store sales growth being seen. So maybe this could be a sign that this year's second half could prove to be much stronger than in previous years.
What I do find to be most impressive is that the company has achieved this despite headwinds brought on by a strong US dollar. A lot of its purchasing is done in US dollars, which has negatively impacted its gross margin.
Foolish takeaway
I believe these two shares still have a lot of growth left in them. There is always a slight danger of profit taking occurring when shares climb quickly. This can especially be the case during times of volatility, but the future does look bright for these two shares and any dips could be seen as great buying opportunities.
