It's not often that we see an ASX share jump almost 30% over just two months. But an S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) blue-chip stock? That's a rare occasion indeed.
By definition, a blue-chip share is supposed to offer slow-but-steady returns to investors. Blue chips sacrifice high growth potential for dependability and reliability, offering investors tried-and-true business models that have stood the test of time.
That's why it's so surprising to see what has happened to Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares over the past two months.
Wesfarmers is your typical blue-chip ASX 200 stock. It has been around in some form or another for more than a century and has been listed on the ASX for decades. Today, it owns a stable of some of Australia's most beloved and well-known businesses. These include Kmart, OfficeWorks, Target, and Bunnings.
In addition to these retailing icons, Wesfarmers also owns a bevvy of other, separate businesses under its roof. These range from clothing and energy to chemical manufacturing and lithium processing.
To make a long story short, this diversification and history arguably make Wesfarmers one of the bluest ASX 200 blue-chip stocks on our market.
But let's get down to what's been happening with the Wesfarmers share price.
This company has had quite a volatile year. It started 2026 at $81.72 a share before climbing up to almost $90 by mid-February. However, the stock was hit hard by the global sell-off in March. It had dropped down to a 52-week low of $70.80 a share by mid-May. That was just under two months ago.
Since then, investors have reversed course once again. Today, the company can be bought for $91.03 a share (at the time of writing). That's a good 28.6% or so above where the company was just two months ago.
Image source: Getty Images
Why has this ASX 200 blue chip bounced 30% higher in just two months?
What's interesting about this case is that there hasn't been any major news or announcements from Wesfarmers over the past two months, aside from the company's 10 June Strategy Briefing. And that occurred smack-bang in the middle of the company's share price recovery.
So it seems that this extraordinary revaluation of Wesfarmers is entirely the result of sentiment. As a huge importer of goods, Wesfarmers is arguably highly exposed to global trade disruptions. So it seems that investors may have sold the company off following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March. And then piled back in on a belief that those fears were overblown.
This ASX 200 blue chip doesn't seem to have been knocked off course once again after the geopolitical events of the past week, which may result in another closure. Let's see how the next few weeks treat Wesfarmers shares.
