Well, we've just closed yet another financial year. This one was one for the books for ASX 200 shares.
As we covered yesterday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) started off July 2024 at 7,767.5 points. By the time trading wrapped up this Monday, 30 June, that same index had hit 8,542.3 points. That's a gain worth 9.97%.
Factoring in dividend returns, the ASX 200's overall performance for FY2025 rises to approximately 13.4%, which is a bumper year for the stock market by any measure.
With any given period, we will have ASX 200 shares that underperform the broader market, as well as shares that pull more than their weight. Today, let's go through two popular ASX 200 shares that fall into the latter camp and recorded rises of more than 30% in FY2025.
A pair of popular ASX 200 shares that rocketed 30% or more in FY25
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)
You knew this one was coming. Commonwealth Bank was arguably the poster child for the ASX 200's stellar FY25. The ASX's largest bank stock started FY25 off at $127.38 a share. On Monday, those same shares closed at $184.75, minting a FY25 gain of just over 45%.
CBA's dividend yield isn't quite what it used to be, but we can throw in an extra 3% or so to account for it as well.
It's hard to point to exactly what has lit a fire under this ASX 200 blue-chip share in recent months. The bank's underlying fundamentals haven't really improved. So it seems this is the trade that no one wants to miss out on, despite almost every broker in Australia slapping CBA as a sell.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
Another popular ASX 200 blue-chip share, Wesfarmers also had a blowout FY25. This diversified industrial and retailing conglomerate went from $65.18 a share in FY25 to $84.75. That's a gain of 30.02%. Again, we can probably throw another 3% or so on the top to account for the company's dividends.
Again, Wesfarmers' share price rise doesn't appear to be closely correlated with its own financial performance. Its FY24 earnings from last August showed the company enjoying a 1.5% rise in revenues, and a 3.7% increase in net profits. Nothing to be concerned about, one could argue, but not enough to justify that 30% gain.
As such, it's possible investors flocked to this popular ASX 200 share in FY25 in a flight to quality. After all, Wesfarmers has been a well-known winner for investors for many years, and offers an uncommonly broad exposure to a range of different corners of the economy.
