[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images UK stocks have had a terrific year, with the FTSE 100 repeatedly breaking new highs. But not every company has joined in the fun. These two growth-focused stocks are down by a third. Is this a brilliant opportunity to consider them before they recover? The first is financial data and trading specialist London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSEG). Its shares struggled last year, over concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) would erode its data business. Critics also argued it had been slow to roll out its own AI tools, despite its partnership with Microsoft. London Stock…
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[ad_1] Image source: Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce (LSE:RR.) shares remain one of the FTSE 100‘s greatest success stories of recent times. The engineering giant’s soared in value as end markets have rebounded from pandemic lows and restructuring has delivered massive rewards. Consider how strongly the share price has performed over the last 12 months. At £12.41 per share, it’s more than doubled in value. As a consequence, an investor who bought £15,000 in a year ago would have seen the value of their holdings swell to £30,045. With dividends thrown in, the total return improves to £30,165. Expensive, but exceptional That’s…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The FTSE 100 has been on a strong run of late, yet some individual shares still look capable of much larger moves. In particular, there are two big-name Footsie stocks that, in my view, have the potential to surge this year. But will they? Leader in the defence sector BAE Systems (LSE: BA.) has already enjoyed a big re-rating as defence spending has risen across Europe and NATO. The shares are up 8.4% in 2026 and sitting at 1,901p as I write on 12 February, giving a market cap of £57bn. That implies a trailing…
[ad_1] Image source: Unilever plc Unilever (LSE: ULVR) shares have been on a bit of a roll, up nearly 10% so far in 2026. It seems longer-term safety might be back in vogue as higher-risk tech stocks have been volatile. But the share price dipped 3% Thursday morning (12 February), on the back of 2025 full-year results. Unilver reported 3.5% underlying sales growth, with 1.5% being down to actual volume growth. Of that, the company’s ‘Power Brands’ led the way with growth of 4.3% — and volumes up 2.2%. But revenue dipped a bit, due to currency movements and disposals.…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Late last year, the Aviva (LSE:AV.) share price hit levels not seen in over a decade. Over the past month, it’s fallen 8%, with some people saying the party’s over and that further gains from here could be hard to come by. But is this really the case? Head in the clouds One of the main reasons to support the argument is valuation. The stock’s big rally over the past couple of years has exceeded the pace of earnings-per-share growth. As a result, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio’s risen and now stands at 26.48. When you…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Artificial intelligence (AI) has been playing havoc with growth stocks recently. Developments of this scale arguably come around once in a lifetime, but I think it’s created a huge opportunity for me. The stock market isn’t sure what to make of AI – and I have some sympathy with this. But in the case of one of my favourite companies, I think investors are getting it wrong in a big way. AI uncertainty Exactly what AI means for software companies is difficult to work out. So it’s not a big surprise to see share prices…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Technology stocks have been dominant in recent years, and FTSE 100 tech superstar Rightmove (LSE: RMV) is no exception. The shares leapt 40 times in value between 2009 and 2025. The online property website boasts some of the best margins going. Its name is entrenched in the world of housebuying. And it has the best returns on capital on the entire FTSE 100. But under the surface, there might be a few problems lurking. The last six months have been little short of a disaster. A share price of 812p in August 2025 has fallen…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images For investors hunting high-growth tech stocks to buy, the US is arguably the world’s most popular market right now. With companies like Nvidia, SMCI and Palantir making high-triple-digit gains in the past three years, this isn’t suprising. Admittedly, much of it’s driven by speculative AI mania, but tech remains the place to look when it comes to growth. But what about closer to home? The UK has a rich history in tech — the work of Charles Babbage and Alan Turing laid the conceptual foundations for modern computing. As recently as the 80s, some of…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images For many years, Diageo (LSE:DGE) shares were seen as a bit of a portfolio ‘no-brainer’. The sort of FTSE 100 stock you could sleep easy at night owning, knowing that every few seconds someone, somewhere in the world, was slurping one of the firm’s drinks. That could be a Guinness in a village pub, a G&T (with Tanqueray or Gordon’s) in a New York bar, or a Baileys at Christmas. Or even baijiu at a formal banquet in China, where Diageo owns approximately 63% of distiller Sichuan Swellfun. The company’s growth strategy was based on…
[ad_1] Several investors often ask if they should stop their investments and wait for the market to cool down or pick up after a sideways market. Or they are waiting for the right time to invest a lump sum or start a sip.Our short answer is: If you want equity to change your life, don’t waste time and invest now! Don’t stop your investments because of market-related noise! Don’t wait for the right time to invest. That will never come. Whatever way you invest, irrespective of the time, losing and gaining are part and parcel of the market fabric. The…