MTNN overtakes BUA Foods as Nigeria’s most valuable stock

Market capitalisation of telecommunications giant MTN Nigeria Plc has soared to N14.9 trillion as of Friday, February 13, following an 8.6 percent rise in its share price to N708.90, making it the most valuable on the country’s bourse.

That share rise effectively ends BUA Foods Plc six months run as the most capitalised listed company on the Nigerian Exchange after it displaced MTNN in August 7 2025.

“MTN Nigeria is currently the #1 most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalisation of N14.9 trillion, which makes about 12.7 percent of the entire Nigerian Stock Exchange equity market,” according to African Stock Exchange data, a market analytics platform.

Investors are betting big on MTNN following the announcement of a N5 interim dividend payout, marking a major comeback after a challenging financial period that saw the telecom giant suspend dividends in 2022.

That move boosted its share price which began 2026 at N511.00 and has since gained 38.7 percent, ranking it 44th on the NGX in terms of year-to-date performance. That’s an impressive performance for a stock that returned 178 percent a year ago.

MTNN is yet to release its full year earnings report but analysts at Lagos-based consultancy CardinalStone see the South Africa-headquartered company hitting a record N1.062 trillion profit in 2025 compared to the N400.44 billion loss incurred in 2024.

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The telecom giant MTN Nigeria rebounded strongly in the nine months ended September 2025, posting a N750 billion profit, reversing a N513 billion loss a year earlier. Revenue soared 57 percent year-on-year to N3.73 trillion, driven by data and fintech growth.

Karl Toriola, the CEO of MTN Nigeria, said MTN’s strong financial recovery raises hopes for the company’s ability to finish the year strong. However, this is dependent on its ability to maintain the momentum it has built over the past nine months with continued support from favourable macroeconomic conditions in the country.

“In the final quarter of the year, our focus is on sustaining the strong momentum built in the first nine months. We will continue to execute with discipline, leveraging our broad revenue streams and strengthened balance sheet to navigate market dynamics and capture growth opportunities,” Toriola said.

The development also comes at a time when domestic institutional investors — particularly pension funds — are rebalancing portfolios amid improved fixed-income yields and a more stable macroeconomic backdrop. Equity valuations have become more sensitive to earnings quality and cash flow visibility, rather than purely inflation-hedge narratives.

MTNN’s market leadership carries weight beyond symbolism. As one of the largest constituents of the NGX All-Share Index, its price movements can influence broader market sentiment and passive fund flows. A sustained rally could therefore provide additional support to overall market capitalisation.

For BUA Foods, the shift does not necessarily signal weakening fundamentals, but rather the normal ebb and flow of market cycles. The company remains one of Nigeria’s most profitable consumer goods firms, with strong brand equity and nationwide distribution.

Wasiu Alli

Wasiu Alli is a business, economics cum data journalist with strong expertise covering macro trends, capital markets, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. He’s an alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School. He formerly heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.