What were the Top Performing Stocks of Year 2022

Indian stocks have been among the best performers in a world where equities have suffered. However, the Nifty and Sensex may not have really flattered on the upside, but there are specific companies that have done extremely well in the last one year. OF course, year 2022 is not yet over, but the trends are fairly clear. We can safely bet on which stocks will be the top performers based on data available till date. Sensex and Nifty have surged to record high levels in December 2022, despite broad based concerns about higher interest rates and slowdown. But, one reality is also that had it not been for the Adani group stocks, the wealth creation may have been much smaller in 2022.

If you look at some big stories of 2022, you can identify themes like Adani group stocks, public sector banks and defence stocks as very focused outperformers in the current year. Interestingly, some of the best performing stocks more than doubled in the year 2022, a year when stocks literally struggled. Here is a look at the top 5 performers in the year 2022.

1. Adani Enterprises: This is not just a part of the Adani group but is also seen as the incubator of new businesses in the group. It holds some of the most promising high growth businesses of the Adani group. If you look at Adani Enterprises Ltd in the year 2022 so far, the stock is up over 117%. The stock also joined the Nifty 50 index and also got into the exclusive club of the 10 most valuable companies in India by market capitalization. Adani Enterprises typically incubates new businesses for the various segments of the group and has a product portfolio that is impressive as it is diverse. Their product portfolio comprises of green energy, airports, cement, data centres and media. Even other Adani group stocks like Adani Power and Adani Wilmar have given close to 100% returns during the year.
    

2. Bank of Baroda: had been a formidable bank for long but had lost its mojo in the last 10 years as PSU banks struggled under the weight of bad loans. This year in 2022, BOB has gained a full 110% on the back of positive earnings performance. This surge in earnings during the year was largely led by improvement in asset quality and net interest income which aided the bank's profit in Q2. BOB also saw an expansion of its net interest margins (NIM) while the non-performing assets or gross NPAs were sharply higher in the quarter.
    

3. Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL): This is a defence stock that gained heavily from the positive order flows during the year from the government. Amid the rally in certain defence stocks this year, Bharat Dynamics has outperformed by rallying more than 130% in 2022. The Sensex was up just about 2% in the year. Bharat Dynamics or BDL for short, is based out of Hyderabad and is a PSU under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. BDL specializes as a manufacturing base for guided missile systems and allied equipment for the Indian Armed Forces.
    

4. Karnataka Bank: Karnataka Bank was one more of the banks to show good traction during the year. The shares maintained their bullish momentum after reporting an all-time high profit during the second quarter of the current fiscal year i.e. Q2 FY23. The private bank's stock has rallied by more than 135% during the year so far. The stock saw a sharp improvement in its operating margins, the NIMs and also the level of gross non-performing assets.
    

5. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL): was one more PSU defence stock that has given multi-bagger returns in 2022. The stock is up more than 105% on a yoy basis. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is a Navratna CPSE that operates in the defence and space technology sector. The company provides products and services to the defence industry and has been largely into manufacture of fighter aircraft. It is one of the big beneficiaries of the decision by the Indian government to farm out more of the defence orders to domestic companies than giving out orders abroad.