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The general mood among the stock investors in the Singapore market is jubilant. It has been a great year for the STI, as it currently sits at a gain of 9.02% YTD.
In fact, there are over 160 stocks that have gained 20% on SGX in the past year.
That said, not all stocks are having the best bull run of their lives. Some of the Singapore blue chips are down over 10%.
Which are the stocks that are languishing, and is it a good time to buy low, or should we avoid them at all costs?
1. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd (SGX: BS6): -20.61% YTD
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was once a multi bagger that has run aground lately.
The stock is up more than +350% over the last 5 years, but has ran aground lately. Back when there was a global shipping crisis, the company racked up a robust order book, which contributed to strong earnings growth. The stock itself had an attractive valuation and solid dividend yields.
All of this led to a meteoric rise in share prices, making the stock a truly certified multi-bagger.
However, weak orders starting in 2025, on top of Trump’s tariff laden regime, specifically targeting exorbitant port fees on China built ships, might have deterred the business prospects of YZJ and the entire China shipbuilding industry.
While Trump has a knack of going back and forth, investors may not be willing to bet things on smooth sailing for YZJ. Thus, massive profit taking has caused this blue chip to tank by more than -20%.
The shipbuilding business is notoriously cyclical and does not really boast sexy margins. And being a business without real economic moat, it will be hard for long term value investors to make a compelling case for a stock that has fallen out of favour.
The stock currently trades at just 7.88x P/E, with its highest P/E across the last 10 years at 15.24x. While ships will still continue to play an integral role in logistics and goods movements, I find it hard to make a compelling case for investing in YZJ at this point in time.
2. Thai Beverage PCL (SGX: Y92): -16.07% YTD
Not only Thailand, but one of Southeast Asia’s most successful food and beverage companies may be facing its toughest challenge yet.
Boasting one of the most comprehensive beverages and alcoholic portfolio, ranging from beer to spirits, Thaibev is also the major shareholder of Fraser and Neave Ltd (SGX: F99). Not only that, it also holds the master franchisee for KFC and Starbucks in Thailand.
So why is this diversified FMCG company struggling in terms of share prices?
A deeper look exposes some key issues. Thaibev’s core spirits segment, which accounts for over 75% of earnings, has experienced a decline in sales volume due to weaker economic conditions and softer consumer spending in Thailand and Vietnam.
And as Thaibev becomes a heavyweight food and beverage conglomerate, it subjects itself to a conglomerate discount – a phenomenon where the market values a diversified conglomerate at less than the sum of its individual business units’ values if they were standalone companies. This situation arises due to a few reasons, ranging from capital inefficiency, complexity of analysing, cross-subsidization and lack of control premium.
Thaibev’s business is evergreen, albeit the discretionary portion contributed by the spirits sales. But being Thaibev’s largest margin contributor, a slowdown in consumer spending will hurt Thaibev in the short run.
And to address the conglomerate discount, Thaibev has been trying to spinoff its beer vertical to unlock returns, but the plan has been dampened and delayed due to unfavourable market environment. If the spinoffs do happen, it would be beneficial, but the timing for when it could actually happen remains up in the air.
Although Thaibev is currently trading at a fairly optimum valuation for shareholders to go long, with so many other stocks performing well, it might take a relatively longer time for value to be unlocked for Thaibev.
3. Sats Ltd (SGX: S58): -10.16% YTD
For a stock with similar prospect to Singapore Airlines Ltd (SGX: C6L), its surprising to see such a divergence in their stock prices YTD.
On one hand, SIA is up +14.88% YTD, while Sats is down -10.16% over the same period.
Financially, Sats achieved a +13.0% YoY revenue growth, compared to SIA’s +2.8% YoY revenue growth, as the revenge travel post COVID tapers down. So why did Sats share price move in the other way instead?
Sats stock prices experienced a major selloff when Trump announced reciprocal tariffs back in early April. Although these tariffs threats have subsided, and Sats has rebounded close to +33% from the lowest in 2025, the lingering fear of tariffs are keeping a cautious lid on Sats’ future prospects.
Not to forget, the company just completed the acquisition of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) back in early 2023, eyeing a new growth frontier. But a tariff laden regime by President Trump would paint a bleak picture on Sats growth prospects.
Sats trades at a trailing P/E of 20.00x as of time of writing, close to its historical mean of around 20-25x range. Clearly the market is discounting the prospect of WFS, and for valid reasons.
Only those who have faith on the management’s ability to bring Sats to the next level, while braving the storm of trade tariffs over the next few years, are likely to stay the course.
My verdict
These blue chips have had their moments over the past few years, where they achieved market beating returns, and were the talk of the town.
Today, as other SGX stocks rallied by more than 20%, these stocks sit on a totally separate spectrum.
The business model might not have changed, or in some cases, might have even improved. But the macro environment can be cruel to some companies.
I wouldn’t discount a recovery that could be in the play for all 3 stocks. But the when—that’s the million-dollar question.
These 3 companies might present themselves as a contrarian’s favourite, but for a value-growth investor who also considers the macro environment, and knowing that it is hurting these 3 stocks, I would give them a pass, until the time is right, or if I have run out of better companies to invest in.
What do you think?
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