ASX worst performers in 2025; 500,000 Aussies on weight loss drugs; Qantas’ new class

ASX worst performers in 2025; 500,000 Aussies on weight loss drugs; Qantas’ new class

News in brief

Moderate Liberal MPs have warned that there will be frontbench resignations if the party abandons a commitment to net zero emissions, while conservatives insist the term must be dumped. The conservatives argue there needs to be a clear delineation between the Liberals and the government on the issue.

 

It was the second busiest auction week of the year, and the preliminary clearance rate over the seven days has come in just under 72 per cent, suggesting the housing market is in good health.

 

Around half a million Australians are taking weight loss drugs every month, and almost 50 per cent of users are buying them privately for up to $600 per month. A study by the University of New South Wales, reported in the AFR, shows the surge in the usage of GLP-1 drugs – many of which have been pushed by influencers and celebrities.

 

Qantas is set to roll out a new class of flying for domestic travel. “Economy plus” sits somewhere between economy and premium economy. It is targeted at the shrinking number of corporate flyers, particularly those attracted to Virgin’s economy X products.

 

COP30 starts in Brazil tonight, with the key message likely to be that efforts to tackle climate change are moving too slowly. It is the 30th annual UN climate meeting. The COP acronym stands for Conference of the Parties, and the parties are the nearly 200 countries that have signed up to the original UN climate agreement of 1992.

Fear-o-meter

Normally the list of worst performing stocks on the ASX200 are littered with small caps, particularly miners, that have been sold off on the back of a drop in commodity prices, or a bad strategic decision.

 

What is remarkable in 2025 is that none of the worst ten performing stocks fit into that category. Instead, they are well-known companies, sometimes blue-chips, that are having a horror year.

 

The link, though somewhat tenuous, is that companies with significant operations in the United States are struggling most. That’s certainly the case for Reece, Treasury Wine Estates, James Hardie, which this year bought a US business, Block, Telix and CSL.

 

Macquarie Group is another that’s been buffeted by US policy settings. It doesn’t fit into the worst performing category but is still down eight per cent this year. Same deal with Aristocrat Leisure which is off 9 per cent.

 

There is so much economic uncertainty in that market, bought on by tariffs and inconsistent policy making. Plus, maybe Australian investors don’t want as much exposure to the US.

 

Not all the worst performers are US-linked. WiseTech Global has fallen on the back of corporate governance concerns and Guzman y Gomez and Domino’s have fallen on the back of valuations and uncertainty over where growth is coming from.

 

The implication for investors in all of this, is that some returns, including super fund returns, might not be quite as good as hoped.

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On the week ahead for the economy, including the labour force figures out this Thursday, following last month's sharp jump to an unemployment rate of 4.5pc: 

 

"The labour force figures on a month-by-month basis are so bouncy. I mean, we used to call it the labour force lottery to figure out what people would forecast the numbers to be. Sort of if you average out everyone's forecast, then the number might come out as that. That's what happens when you have a household survey that's surveying eight different groups of households and trying to extrapolate that information for the whole population. It's going to be quite bouncy. 

 

So it's pretty likely that the unemployment rate is going to come down a little bit. It had such a big jump last month, we think it's going to come down to about 4.4%. Jobs growth is still likely to be positive, but we think it's going to be sub 20,000 a month. it's not bad, it's just softer jobs growth than what we've had. The labour market is certainly not collapsing, but it's weakened compared to where it was a year ago."

Some of Australia’s best-known companies have been among the worst performing stocks so far in 2025. This year has been unusual in that blue-chip, or near blue-chip companies, have been dumped by investors, as have a bunch of high-profile names that were market favourites. Treasury Wine Estates, James Hardie, WiseTech Global, Telix Pharmaceuticals, Guzman y Gomez, Domino’s and CSL have all fallen by somewhere between 35 per cent and 50 per cent. The worst performer in 2025 has been plumbing group, Reece, controlled by the Wilson family. Others to have incurred a 30 per cent plus loss in 2025 include Viva Energy, Flight Centre and Block, owner of Afterpay.

Greed-o-meter

Company	2025 performance (%)
Reece	-51
Treasury Wine Estates	-49
James Hardie	-48
WiseTech Global	-45
Telix Pharmaceuticals	-39
Guzman y Gomez	-39
CSL	-36
Viva Energy	-31
Flight Centre	-31
Block	-31

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The 10 worst performing stocks on the ASX 200 so far this year:

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Source: Market Index