Johannesburg, Feb 20, 2026, 16:43 SAST — Regular session
Sasol slipped 0.1% to 142.27 rand by Friday’s close, pulling back after hitting a 52-week high at 149.22 rand earlier in the session. The stock, listed in Johannesburg, surged 10.9% Thursday and has gained roughly 16% since Tuesday’s close, JSE figures show.
The recent surge is in focus with fresh earnings data just around the corner. Traders have begun to price a stronger quarter-end performance into oil-linked stocks. Sasol reports its interim numbers for the six months ended Dec. 31, and the spotlight is on cash generation and potential changes to its spending approach.
Sasol warned in a Feb. 5 trading update that headline earnings per share (HEPS) will likely drop by 29% to 40%, landing somewhere in the 8.50 rand to 10.00 rand range. Adjusted EBITDA? The company put that between 19 billion and 23 billion rand. The half was hit by a 17% slide in the average rand-per-barrel Brent price, weaker chemicals prices, plus 7.8 billion rand in impairments—those are accounting writedowns.
Oil is right back in the thick of the action. Brent held close to six-month peaks on Friday, on track for its first weekly climb in three weeks. Prices slipped a bit over the session, but not enough to shake the week’s momentum. “The appetite to take profit and close a position is also limited,” said UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Saxo Bank’s Ole Hansen described it as “a wait-and-see day.” Reuters
The rand barely budged in early trading, sitting at 16.1325 per dollar. “The ZAR has had a tough week, steadily losing ground,” ETM Analytics wrote, pointing to investor nerves over Iran risks and the effect on oil and inflation. Meanwhile, the JSE Top-40 showed a 0.5% gain. Reuters
Sasol knows this dance: stronger crude buoys realised prices in some pockets, but currency moves quickly redraw the shape of rand earnings and how debt looks on the balance sheet. Refining and chemical margins carry much of the weight here. The share price can snap in either direction when one of these pillars shifts.
Those macro forces don’t always blow the same way. Brent swung sharply this week—jumping 4.35% on Feb. 18, then adding 1.86% on Feb. 19, before giving back 0.50% on Feb. 20. If Middle East tensions cool, crude-linked trades could quickly lose steam.
Sasol’s take on impairments—often a drag on headline numbers—will be in focus. Investors are watching to see if management holds the line on costs and capex after that sharp rally in the stock.
Sasol lines up its interim results for release at 07:05 CAT on Monday, with a webcast and conference call set for 11:00 CAT.
