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UK growth shares are booming at the moment. Since February 2025, the FTSE 100’s gained 18%, outperforming many of its international peers. But savvy investors know that successful investing requires taking a long-term view. With this in mind, I think 2026 could be a pivotal year for one particular Footsie stock. Let’s find out why.
Over 100 years of investing
Being honest, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE:SMT), which can trace its origins back to 1909, doesn’t sound like a particularly exciting stock. But having ditched its initial investments in rubber plantations long ago, it now buys minority stakes in what it describes as exceptional growth companies.
Indeed, the biggest holding in its portfolio is Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the privately-owned rockets and spacecraft group. Latest figures show that it now accounts for 15.2% of the value of the trust’s investments.
And if proof’s needed that anything Elon Musk touches turns to gold, just take a look at how the value of SMT’s holding has increased since it first took a stake in 2018.
| Date | Fair value (£’000) | % of fund assets |
|---|---|---|
| 31.3.19 | 50,502 | 0.6 |
| 31.3.20 | 57,234 | 0.6 |
| 31.3.21 | 206,396 | 1.1 |
| 31.3.22 | 335,692 | 2.0 |
| 31.3.23 | 465,394 | 3.4 |
| 31.3.24 | 573,837 | 4.0 |
| 31.3.25 | 1,071,116 | 7.8 |
| 30.11.25 | 1,195,712 | 8.1 |
| 31.12.25 | 2,345,000 (estimate) | 15.2 |
However, valuing private companies isn’t straightforward. Because they’re not listed on a stock exchange, there’s limited interaction between buyers and sellers. Determining their true value is, therefore, usually restricted to various funding rounds when they tap their shareholders for more money.
Time will tell
Ultimately, we will only know if SpaceX is worth what SMT believes it is when its shares are publicly traded. And if the rumours are true, an IPO will happen in 2026. According to the Financial Times, this has been pencilled in for the middle of June, with an estimated valuation of $1.5trn.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what proportion of the space group SMT owns. But whatever it is, its stake could be undervalued. When Tesla listed in June 2010, its shares soared 40% on the first day of trading. And such is Elon Musk’s reputation, I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens with SpaceX.
If it does, SMT’s market cap could rise by £938m or 7%, based on the price as I write on 30 January. And the long-term effect could be spectacular if Musk’s able to work his magic once more. I’ve seen one forecast suggesting that SpaceX could be worth $12.8trn by 2040.
Pros and cons
But there are other reasons to consider taking a stake in the trust. It has shareholdings in many of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing tech companies. And from 2016-2025, this helped its net asset value (NAV) rise by 408% and its share price increase by 351%. For comparison, the FTSE All-World index rose 248% over the same period.
However, its exposure to these types of stocks could also be its Achilles’ heel. A repeat of the dotcom crash would have massive implications for the trust’s share price. And with nearly 30% of the fund’s value coming from unquoted companies, converting these positions into cash would take some time, should the need arise.
But for those looking for exposure to the tech sector with some of the risk spread across multiple positions, I think Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is a stock to consider. Its current 5% discount to its NAV could be an opportunity to buy into some of the world’s most famous companies at a knock-down price.
