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A good few growth shares look like they could be in for a sparking 2026, buoyed by optimistic analyst forecasts and strong company guidance. Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) (LSE: MAB1) is one of them. There’s an average broker price target of 1,075p on the stock. And that would mean a rise of a bit over 50% if it proves accurate.
We really shouldn’t put trust in these targets though. But we should instead examine the fundamentals behind them and work out for ourselves if we think they’re plausible.
First, I’ve to note a caution. There are only a four analysts offering forecasts for Mortgage Advice Bureau over the past few months. But even the least optimistic thinks we’ll see 900p. And the top end of the scale stretches to a target of 1,250p. That means these City instititutions see the share price gaining anywhere between 25% and 75% from where it is at the time of writing. That’s what I call bullish.
Performance rebound?
The shares have disappointed over the past five years — as we can see from the price chart above. But when we consider the nature of the company’s business, it’s not all that surprising. As the name suggests, this is a mortgage broker offering advice and guidance for first-time buyers, remortgages, buy-to-let, etc.
Think high interest rates, expensive mortgages, weak house buying demand. With a modest 18% fall in the past five years, I’m actually impressed that Mortgage Advice Bureau shares have held up as well as they have.
So what’s likely to drive a turnaround in 2026 and beyond? Bank of England interest rates falling further and mortgages becoming cheaper have to provide a boon for a business like this, surely?
A strong 2025
If January’s year-end trading update’s anything to go by, it sounds like the recovery’s already progressing at a hot pace. For the year ended 31 December, revenue rose by 19% to around £318m.
The board “expects to report adjusted [profit before tax] of c.£35.8m, representing 12% growth on the equivalent period last year“. We should have full profit figures on 17 March when we get the 2025 report.
We also heard that the group’s “number of mainstream advisers … was up 10% on the prior year end to 2,135, with 65% of this growth driven by organic expansion from firms already in MAB’s network“. This “marks the first year of material growth since 2022, signalling increased confidence in the outlook“. It sure looks to me like business is picking up nicely.
Outlook
The optimism backs up analyst forecasts for a 90% rise in earnings per share between 2024 and 2027. There is however, still a significant amount of risk with any investment dependent on the mortgage and property markets in today’s economy. And that might keep the share price down for a while longer.
But this looks to me like a potential growth share that investors should seriously consider in 2026.
