After a series of ups and downs the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is higher by just 1% year-to-date, vastly underperforming its international peers.
Whilst the index may not have had the best start to the year, four shares in particular have gone gangbusters in 2017. Here's why:
The Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) share price is up a whopping 41% year-to-date. The rally is largely the result of a positive market reaction to the dairy company's $460 million acquisition of a number of brands from Mondelēz. Chief among them is the iconic Vegemite brand. Management expects the acquisition to be significantly accretive to earnings, contributing between $40 million and $45 million in EBITDA in the first 12 months. But at 32x trailing earnings I think Bega Cheese's shares have started to look a little expensive now. In light of this I wouldn't be a buyer today.
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has climbed 20% so far in 2017 thanks largely to a better-than-expected half-year result. For the first six months of FY 2017 the biotherapeutics company delivered a 12% jump in net profit after tax to $806 million. A key driver of the growth was its immunoglobulin product Privigen which saw a 34% jump in sales. Another positive was its Seqirus influenza vaccine segment. As well as posting a 14% increase in sales, the segment made a positive contribution to EBITDA. Despite its rally I believe CSL is still an outstanding buy and hold investment.
The Summit Resources Ltd (Australia) (ASX: SMM) share price has risen an incredible 472% year-to-date. Due to low demand and oversupply, uranium prices hit a 12-year low of US$18 a pound last year. But thanks to increasing demand and a production cut from Kazakhstan-based uranium producer Kazatomprom, prices have recovered and risen sharply in 2017. Fellow uranium company Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) has also seen its share price jump. Year-to-date the Paladin Energy share price is up 30%.
