The best and worst performing ASX 200 stocks of FY26

FY26 is done and dusted, and let's be real, it was a terrible time to be an Australian index investor. The S&P/ASX 200 finished the year pretty flat, up just 2.77%, with miners single-handedly propping the index into positive territory while portfolio favourites like healthcare, tech and telco underperformed.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index has dipped 9% over the last two weeks, but still closes out the financial year up 47%, outperforming every other positive sector ... combined. Materials first broke out to all-time highs last September after trading sideways for four years, and that proved a powerful signal, lifting high-profile names like BHP, Rio Tinto, PLS Group, Newmont and Sandfire Resources to fresh records of their own.

Best performing ASX 200 stocks

4DMedical (ASX: 4DX) takes the #1 spot, closing the financial year out as a 17-bagger and outperforming the next six stocks combined. The past twelve months have featured non-stop commercial and regulatory milestones for the company's CT:VQ software, which turns standard CT scans into lung ventilation and perfusion maps. In September 2025, the product landed FDA clearance, and within four months, adopted by Stanford, Cleveland Clinic, University of Miami and UC San Diego Health. The year also featured a major $10 million investment from Pro Medicus back in July, when the stock was trading at just 24 cents a piece.

Elsewhere, 14 of the 20 best performers were miners, thanks to a strong rebound in lithium prices (up around 160% from July lows), gold miners holding onto leftover 2025 gains, a global race to secure critical minerals propping up rare earth stocks, and a record-setting year for copper prices.

Worst performing ASX 200 stocks

Names like WiseTech, Tuas and Xero would probably have made some sort of "best performing" or "top growth picks" list a year or two ago. They've now ended up in the bottom drawer amid a broader, sharp de-rating across tech and healthcare. Most of that weakness was compounded by some kind of self-inflicted catalyst, whether the range of governance issues at WiseTech, Xero's costly M&A (it bought unprofitable US accounting outfit Melio for $2.5bn) or Tuas being accused of using unauthorised radio frequency bands, which triggered a one-day selloff of around 60%.

On to FY27

The best and worst lists change quickly. Just a year ago, names like Generation Development Group and Austal sat at the top of the leaderboards, up 110% and 153% respectively in FY25, only to land among the worst performers this year.

Meanwhile, names like PLS Group and MinRes were FY25 laggards, down 58% and 61% that year, and now sit at the top alongside a long list of other miners. It goes to show just how much leverage is built into these resource names.

Even when sectors turn, the names within them don't always follow. Despite a higher oil price backdrop, the likes of Beach Energy and Karoon Energy have still underperformed.

This article was first published on Market Index on 30 June 2026.