Belfast-based tech firm Kainos (LON:KNOS) delivered one of the more eye-catching UK technology updates on 18 August, upgrading FY2027 revenue and adjusted pre-tax profit guidance to levels ‘comfortably ahead’ of market expectations. The shares responded by surging ~20% in early trading. For UK retail investors, the important question is no longer whether Kainos is recovering from its post-pandemic slowdown. The evidence increasingly says it is. The question is whether the recovery, AI opportunity and improving margins are now sufficiently strong to justify a valuation that has risen sharply in recent weeks. Kainos investor relations Kainos (LON:KNOS)Price: £11.60 (~+20%)Market cap: £1.35bn…

The optical networking market has become one of the most interesting sub-sector beneficiaries of the AI boom, transforming rapidly as a result. As hyperscalers build increasingly large AI clusters, the amount of data moving between GPUs is exploding. Copper connections increasingly struggle with the speed, distance and power requirements, pushing data centres towards optical transceivers, lasers and photonic components. The market recently hit the headlines when US private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners agreed to buy British photonics firm Gooch & Housego in a £345.6m deal in July 2026. This creates a powerful investment theme for US-listed giants Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE),…

Enterprise software giant Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) shares jumped roughly 18% on 13 August to $206.45, their biggest single-session gain since 2016, after Reuters reported that private-equity giant Silver Lake is in talks to acquire the California-based company. Workday has moved from a beaten-down software recovery story to a takeover-arbitrage situation. The shares briefly rose about 30% before giving back some gains. For UK retail investors, the key point is that there is no agreed offer yet. Silver Lake and Workday have reportedly been discussing a transaction for several months, but sources stressed that a deal is not guaranteed. Workday investor relations…

Chip tech kit supplier Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) delivered a very strong fiscal Q3, with record revenue, margins and earnings. Yet the shares fell sharply after hours on 13 August. The message for investors is clear: the semiconductor-equipment business is performing extremely well, but expectations and valuation are now demanding. The crucial question remains: Can it convert surging AI demand into high-margin earnings? Applied Materials investor relations Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)Price: ~$505 (~-5% after-hours)Market cap: ~$403.2bn Q3: another record quarter Applied Materials reported $9.12bn of revenue, up 25% year on year and ahead of consensus of about $8.99bn. Non-GAAP EPS was $3.50,…

Just three months after Elon Musk’s SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) re-wrote the IPO playbook, UK retail investors have another potential multi-billion-dollar IPO on the cards… Anthropic. The company behind AI engine Claude could become one of the most important stock market events of 2026. Anthropic has confidentially submitted a draft listing document S-1 to the SEC. It has not yet set the number of shares, offer price or firm listing date, although reports suggest a September or early-October 2026 debut could be targeted. Anthropic information That puts Anthropic alongside SpaceX and OpenAI in an extraordinary wave of mega-IPOs. But SpaceX has already…

The message for investors is clear: Cisco Systems’ (NASDAQ:CSCO) AI transformation is becoming real but expectations are now much higher. The networking giant delivered a strong Q4 FY2026, beating expectations on revenue and adjusted earnings and issuing FY2027 guidance comfortably ahead of Wall Street forecasts. Yet the shares fell ~6% after-hours on 12 August despite the beat, following a powerful ~60% year-to-date rally. Cisco investor relations Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO)Price: $116.47 (~-6%)Market cap: ~$459bn The long-term opportunity is attractive, particularly because Cisco can benefit from AI infrastructure spending without having to fund the enormous datacentre capital expenditure required by hyperscalers. But…

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) delivered a much stronger profit performance than expected in its fiscal Q4 2026, while missing on revenue. The bigger surprise was the outlook: management is forecasting FY2027 sales of $65bn-$72bn, dramatically above Wall Street’s pre-results expectations. The Q4 report shifts Super Micro from a speculative AI-server recovery story towards a potentially compelling AI infrastructure growth story. For UK retail investors, the key question is no longer simply whether AI datacentre spending is strong. It is whether Super Micro can turn that demand into sustainably higher margins and cash generation. Super Micro investor relations Super Micro Computer…

AI cloud platform CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) delivered the kind of quarter bulls wanted to see — but it remains a high-risk, capital-intensive AI infrastructure stock. The Q2 evidence favours the bulls for now. Revenue reached $2.575bn, up 112% year on year, narrowly beating the roughly $2.56bn consensus. Adjusted EBITDA was a much stronger $1.51bn, while adjusted operating income jumped to $128m from just $21m in Q1. CoreWeave investor relations CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV)Price: $107 (~+18.5% after-hours)Market cap: ~$58.4bn More importantly, the revenue backlog reached approximately $104bn, while CoreWeave said it had secured another $25bn+ of net new customer commitments early in Q3. The…

One of the most talked about stocks this year, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB), delivered another very strong growth quarter, but the market’s reaction shows the problem for investors: the business is improving rapidly, while the share price already discounts a very ambitious future. Investors are paying a very large premium for a company that still loses money. Investing.com has its sat atop its list of the most overvalued large-cap US stocks. Rocket Lab investor relations Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB)Price: $72.18 (~-10% after-hours)Market cap: ~$43.0bn The company reported record Q2 revenue of $234.1m, up 62% year-on-year, beating consensus of about $232m. Backlog rose…

India has been one of the world’s best-performing major equity markets over the past decade, supported by strong GDP growth, rising household wealth, digitalisation and expanding manufacturing. For UK investors, investment trusts remain one of the easiest ways to gain diversified exposure to the country’s long-term structural growth. Sharesify podcast with James Thom of Aberdeen New India Investment Trust However, after a spectacular rally between mid-2022 and late-2024, Indian equities have entered a much more challenging period. Major UK investment trusts with Indian exposure Investment trustEstimated India exposureInvestment styleTypical discount/premium*JPMorgan India Growth & Income~100%Large & mid-cap growth~5-8% discountAshoka India Equity~100%High-quality…