NAHCO jumps 46% in February 2026: Driven by fundamentals or hype?

Nigeria Aviation Handling Company Plc shares have gained about 46%% in February alone, as of the close of trading yesterday, bringing the YtD gain to 62%.

Last year, the stock returned 135%, making it one of the best-performing stocks on NGX.

A 46% gain in less than one month is impressive and deserves attention.  What are investors seeing: an undervalued stock or a company with strong fundamentals?  Are investors pricing its growth potential?  Or is it just speculative or a hype?

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This question is especially important considering the NGX’s recent investor alert.

The Nigerian Exchange, on Monday, February 23, 2026, issued an alert over significant price movements in some listed stocks.

The Exchange warned investors to base decisions on publicly available information and careful assessments of companies’ fundamentals, risk profiles, and financial performance, while cautioning against speculative trading driven by rumours or unverified information.

This comes after the NGX suspended trading in the shares of Zichis Agro-Allied Industries Plc pending the outcome of a regulatory investigation into recent trading activities.

The action followed what the Exchange described as extraordinary price movements, with the stock surging by 772% to close at N17.36 per share on Friday, February 20, up from its listing price of N1.81 on January 20, 2026.

Let us return to NAHCO. Is the rally being driven by fundamentals or just hype?  In the equities market, a fundamentally driven rally is supported by consistent earnings, profit margins, strong cash flow, a healthy balance sheet, a strong growth outlook, and reasonable valuation.

NAHCO Fundamentals

Based on these criteria, NAHCO appears to have strong fundamentals supporting the rally

• Revenue has been consistent and has grown at an annual rate of 66% over the past five years.
• Similarly, profit and earnings per share even grew faster at 155% and 158% per year, respectively.
• Profit rose from N302 million in 2020 to about N13 billion in 2024, increasing consistently over the period.

Most importantly, the company’s efficiency in converting revenue into profit has continued to improve, as reflected in its net profit margin, which rose from about 4% in 2020 to 28% in 2025.

Dividend payments have also been consistent, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of about 163%, from 12.5 kobo in 2020 to N5.94 in 2024.

The balance sheet also points to a healthy position, with total assets of N53.9 billion supported by a strong equity base of N26.5 billion, implying a solid capital structure.

Liquidity is comfortable, with current assets of N29.9 billion exceeding current liabilities of N22.7 billion, while cash balances have risen to N11.2 billion.

Borrowings remain modest at about N5 billion and largely flat year-on-year, indicating conservative leverage.

**Trading activity **

The rally also appears to be supported by trading activity, with a daily average trading volume of about 5 million shares over the past three months, pointing to good liquidity.

• Over the same period, the stock traded about 130 million shares valued at N16.3 billion.

In addition, NAHCO’s free float of 56.67% (about 1.1 billion shares) indicates that a large portion of its shares are in public hands rather than locked up with insiders or a few large holders.

• This makes the stock harder to corner or squeeze by a small group of traders.

The foregoing points to a rally; 46% in February 2026 alone, that is fundamentally driven rather than speculative.

However, the stock is no longer cheap, and market expectations are now high.  Earnings multiples suggest that the stock is trading at a rich valuation.

• Investors are paying about N18.9 for every N1 of earnings, above the industry average of about N13.5, showing that NAHCO is trading at a premium.
• On an enterprise value basis, the stock trades at about 12.2 times EBITDA, meaning investors are paying N12.2 for every N1 of operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, which also points to a relatively expensive valuation.

However, the growth-adjusted picture looks more supportive. With a PEG ratio of 0.12, the market is effectively paying much less for growth, suggesting that if earnings continue to expand at the current pace, today’s valuation could still be justified.

Taken together, the rally, especially in February, appears to be supported by fundamental and strong trading liquidity, but the stock is no longer cheap and is now priced for growth

We will continue to update readers on stocks driven by fundamentals, trading liquidity, or speculation.

**Meanwhile, visit, subscribe and follow us via “Follow the Money” () for our stock recommendations and other market insights. **

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