Some share prices move so fast they outrun the headlines.
Over the past year, three SGX-listed names have done exactly that – one nearly doubling, another more than doubling, and a third multiplying more than eight times over.
It’s tempting to treat a soaring stock as proof that something is going right.
Sometimes it is.
But a rising share price tells you only that buyers are willing to pay more, not whether the business underneath has earned it.
The more useful exercise is to look past the price and ask what’s actually driving each company – and whether that momentum looks like a baseline or a one-off.
Here are three companies whose share prices have run hot, and what the numbers say about whether the climb is built to last.
Sheng Siong: can steady growth carry an outsized share price?
As of 29 May 2026, Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SGX: OV8) shares sat at S$3.05, up nearly 68% over the past year.
What stands out is how grounded that rise looks.
Sheng Siong came flying out of the gate in 2026, with revenue rising 12.4% year on year (YoY) to S$452.8 million for the first quarter (1Q2026).
The composition of that growth tells an encouraging story.
The 2025 store cohort – the 12 outlets opened progressively through last year – contributed a 9.3% lift to group revenue, roughly three-quarters of the headline figure.
Comparable same-store sales in Singapore grew a healthy 3.5%, a sign the core business is firing on its own merits rather than leaning solely on new stores.
Profitability is keeping pace.
Operating profit climbed 16.3% YoY, outpacing revenue growth – a sign the group is converting incremental sales into profit efficiently.
First-quarter gross margin reached 31%, up 0.7 percentage points from a year ago and broadly in line with the record 31.3% for full-year 2025, helped by a richer sales mix from fresh produce and an expanding house-brand range now spanning 28 brands and over 2,000 products.
The cash story is just as strong.
Free cash flow jumped 59.4% to S$36.6 million, and the group’s cash pile has swelled to a record S$461 million.
That war chest matters, because the S$520 million Sungei Kadut warehouse and distribution centre will be funded progressively between 2026 and 2030.
With new stores typically taking three years to ramp up, the 2025 cohort should keep supporting sales for some time yet.
For Sheng Siong, the share price rise rests on something solid.
Micro-Mechanics: when does a recovery become a re-rating?
Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) Ltd (SGX: 5DD), or MMH, has been even punchier.
At S$3.19 as of 29 May 2026, the stock has soared 105% over the past year.
The business is finding its growth shoes again.
MMH delivered gross margins above 50% for three consecutive quarters, and just posted its strongest nine-month showing since 9MFY2022, with revenue, gross profit, operating profit and net profit all up by double digits in the third quarter of its fiscal year ending 30 June 2026 (3QFY2026).
The recurring engine did most of the heavy lifting: the consumable tools segment rose 20.9% YoY to S$14.4 million, accounting for 77.6% of quarterly sales. China, its largest market, jumped over 25%.
The cycle is working in its favour.
The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics now expects global chip sales to grow 25% to nearly US$1 trillion in 2026, repeatedly revising its forecast upward through the year.
When the chip industry posts numbers like those, the suppliers feeding the equipment makers tend to follow.
Free cash flow eased to S$2.8 million for the quarter as capital expenditure stepped up, but that reflects deliberate investment – new precision-machining equipment and physics-based programming technology promising 10% to 30% improvements in material removal rates.
The momentum is starting to look like a baseline rather than a streak.
AEM: can a 725% rise be backed by anything?
Then there’s AEM Holdings (SGX: AWX), where things get dramatic.
At S$10.40 as of 29 May 2026, the stock has soared over 725% in a single year.
A rise that steep invites scepticism.
Yet AEM’s first quarter offers an unusual amount to back it up.
Revenue surged 35.8% YoY to S$116.9 million, driven by the high-volume production ramp of its fabless AI/HPC customer and improving demand from its PC/Foundry customer.
The real headline was profitability: net profit more than quadrupled as net margins jumped to 12.3% from 3.9% a year ago. Within that, Test Cell Solutions revenue surged 72% to S$88.1 million, over three-quarters of group revenue.
Crucially, the margin recovery is being driven by the right factors – a better product mix, a higher contribution from the higher-margin TCS segment, and operating leverage as volumes scale.
Management raised FY2026 revenue guidance to S$550 million to S$600 million; at the midpoint, that’s a 44% increase over FY2025.
The customer diversification story is finally addressing the concentration risk that long shadowed the business, with the fabless AI/HPC customer on track to become AEM’s largest contributor – a notable shift given Intel accounted for over 85% of trade receivables as recently as 2020.
A new strategic partnership with ASE Technology, the world’s largest OSAT at 45% market share, opens privileged access to a hyperscaler ecosystem that would otherwise have taken years to build.
It isn’t risk-free.
An ongoing patent infringement matter, first announced in October 2025, remains before the courts – and AEM’s last patent dispute resulted in a US$20 million settlement.
Management has also been candid that its instrumentation capability has room to improve. After a rise this size, the business will need to keep delivering quarter after quarter to keep pace with expectations.
Get Smart: Fast gains aren’t the signal – what’s behind them is
A soaring share price is the easy part to notice and the hardest part to read.
The three companies here have all delivered remarkable one-year gains, but for different reasons: Sheng Siong on steady operating momentum and cash generation, Micro-Mechanics on a recovering business riding a strengthening cycle, and AEM on a genuine step-change in earnings power.
The lesson isn’t to chase what’s already run.
It’s to separate price momentum from earnings momentum – and to keep asking, quarter after quarter, whether the business is still doing the work that justified the climb.
When a stock has moved this far this fast, the burden of proof shifts to the company.
The numbers will tell you whether the run was earned or merely enjoyed.
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Disclosure: The Smart Investor owns shares of Sheng Siong, Micro-Mechanics and AEM Holdings.
