Wild cards for your wallet: Buyer beware!

If the stock market is simply glorified betting, as you can’t help but sometimes suspect, then no portfolio is complete without a few binary picks. Glory, or ignominy. Go large, or go home. Etc. Just don’t wager the farm, and don’t lash yourself either if you didn’t buy enough of what turned out to be a stonking performer. 

ASP Isotopes (ISO: JSE)

Perhaps we should have published this before Friday’s 21% jump, explained by the news that tech superpower Meta, the owner of Facebook, has signed deals with a number of nuclear power producers – including a 2.8GW project by TerraPower.  

Now, Bill Gates’ TerraPower, which is all about building small modular nuclear reactors, has already signed an agreement with ASPI to fund a high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) plant in South Africa, and buy the uranium from the facility. 

The electricity that tech giants need for their AI data centres is truly monstrous – enough to power entire cities – and small modular nuclear plants are seen as the obvious power supply solution. ASPI has all the IP and know-how from its Pelindaba plant to produce HALEU; the trick is going to be in producing it in commercial quantities, and with regulatory approval (crucial).  

The latter is a worry – how long will South Africa’s nuclear regulator Necsa take to do this? But insiders have told Currency that Necsa has the licences already for Pelindaba. The TerraPower order for 150 tons of enriched uranium is worth more than R50bn to South Africa, says our source, and will likely use depleted uranium waste; South Africa has 3,000 tons in waste facilities.  

Given how wildly ASPI’s shares have performed since listing on the JSE last year, do not expect anything other than a rollercoaster time. That’s what makes it fun. Giulietta Talevi

Caxton (CAT: JSE)

Surely 2026 will be the year Caxton’s controlling shareholder decides now is the time to do something with the R3bn nest egg built up over several years.  

Or not. 

There is of course absolutely no reason why Caxton should do nothing but sit on its nest egg and wait (and wait and wait …) for just the right acquisition opportunity to come by. Though, a declining interest rate environment makes that option a little less attractive. 

The company could make an offer for the remaining 65.1% of Mpact it doesn’t own. That would seem like the really obvious thing to do. However, for the past few years the Mpact share price has been propped up by prospects of an offer from Caxton, which is one reason the offer may never come. But there have been signs of weakness in the past several months. It might be sufficient to entice an offer from Caxton. 

Or perhaps another opportunity will emerge. Or, and here’s the really tantalising perspective, perhaps all the cash will be unbundled to shareholders.

Almost anything could happen. Ann Crotty

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF: NYSE)

If any company exemplifies the immense purchasing power of Gen Z, it is e.l.f. Beauty. Since its 2004 debut with just 13 products, the California-based firm has evolved into a powerhouse with a portfolio of more than 300 items across makeup, skincare and accessories. Today, it serves as the parent company to Alicia Keys’ Keys Soulcare and Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, the latter acquired in a landmark $1bn deal in 2025. 

The brand’s commitment to cruelty-free, clean and vegan formulas resonates deeply with values-driven millennial and Gen Z consumers. Despite fierce competition, e.l.f. has maintained its edge by championing inclusivity and leveraging a sharp social media presence. One of the main challenges could yet be tariffs, as the company still sources 75% of its inventory from China. Over one year, its shares have fallen 34%, but since the start of 2026 they have rallied more than 13%. Could this be the beauty buy in 2026? Nelisiwe Shomang

Ferrari (RACE: NYSE)

Ferrari isn’t really a car company, it’s a scarcity machine that’s closer to a Davos hotel in January than anything in the global auto industry.  

Supply is fixed by design, access is allocated, and demand exceeds production, with an order book stretching well into the future. Add margins north of 25% and proven pricing power with ultra-high-net-worth buyers, and Ferrari is well positioned to perform this year even if the world stays a mad. Sarah Buitendach 

Mercor (private, via EquityZen)

Mercor, which hires the experts who train frontier AI models from poets grading verse to economists building evaluation frameworks, is remarkable for lots of reasons. At 22, its CEO Brendan Foody is the youngest unicorn founder on record, and the company has become one of the fastest-growing start-ups in history.  

The fact that the company is not yet listed is also significant. Most of the upside of great companies is recorded early in their history, and it slows over time. Often listing is an exit for the founders and funders, so it’s worth looking at investing in companies in the private markets.  

Without an active market, returns could easily be zero until its next funding effort reconfigures its notional valuation. But Mercor announced a $350m Series C funding round at a $10bn valuation, with investors including Felicis, Benchmark and General Catalyst in October last year, which is (almost absurdly) positive. And getting in early on anything associated with AI that isn’t already massively overvalued will be the name of the game this year. Tim Cohen 

Savannah Resources (SAV: LON)

Fancy a spot of lithium? Not for any lingering mental quibbles, but rather as the essential ingredient in power system storage systems. A few years ago, this might have seemed a no-brainer, with electric vehicle battery demand climbing off the chart – but the growth in lithium supply, as well as Donald Trump’s aversion to anything that smelt of clean energy dampened this somewhat.  

But an explosion (not literally) in China’s exports of battery storage systems has turned this equation on its head. A calculation by Reuters a few months back, based on data from banking group UBS, suggested growth in lithium demand for energy storage of 55% this year, which should underpin prices.  

UK-listed Savannah describes its mission as “enabling Europe’s energy transition” through the nascent Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal, which contains Europe’s largest-known deposit of spodumene lithium. 

Helpfully, the project has been classified as a “strategic project” by the European Commission, based on its potential to produce enough lithium each year for 500,000 electric vehicle battery packs. Last week, it was awarded a non-reimbursable grant of €110m from the Portuguese government, though production is only expected in 2028.  

The good news is that there still seems much upside in the share price. The three analysts who cover Savannah expect, on average, a share price return of 150% in the next 12 months, with the most optimistic hoping for 316% growth. For a bet on Europe’s energy transition, you could do worse. Rob Rose

VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF (REMX: NYSE)

With so much talk of overvalued AI plays and a pricey US equity market, it seems odd to take a punt on something that jumped more than 90% in 2025. 

But VanEck’s Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF isn’t a bet on the apps or the creators of the latest software. It’s a “pick-and-shovel” play on the materials behind electrification and high-performance hardware: a concentrated basket linked to the 17 rare earth elements used in magnets, electronics, renewable-energy kit and defence equipment, from jet engines to missile guidance systems. 

Demand for critical metals is being pushed by electric vehicles, wind, grid upgrades, semiconductors and rearmament. China’s dominance in processing also adds scarcity value when supply tightens and upside when policy and capital accelerate capacity elsewhere. 

It’s still a risky bet. The fund is concentrated, highly volatile, more expensive than broad equity ETFs, and hostage to the commodity cycle. Vernon Wessels 

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