George and Ian catch up on news and events affecting UK small and mid-cap tech.

IBM’s figures get George pondering the differing paths with AI for software vs IT professional services. He highlights the Asian IT services area, where growth is notably better than in the EU or North America, before looking at results from ActiveOps, GB Group and iOmart.

Ian comments on Oxford Metrics’ in-line update, Northcoders, and then Tracsis, where investors who bought into an earnings growth and digitalisation story have to work out where the UK rail system is now heading.

Ian eulogises about the Stanford AI report. It provides some encouraging data for UK tech proponents and provides insight into how AI is actually being used and what limited gains AI provides.

George focuses on the AI benchmarks issue – are they meaningful? Which leads Ian to question, given the huge scale and nature of many AI projects, whether any of the returns and benefits data that everyone craves is going to be valid.

George and Ian catch up on events in and around the UK small and mid-cap listed tech.

Alphawave’s lack of guidance for 2025 is no great surprise, but in an industry as complex as semiconductors can anyone take forecasts seriously. Ensilica’s recent newsflow suggests not. We can, however, confidently predict that the forecasts are wrong.

Kainos is steadier than it was, but do the cuts mean that it is now out of sync with the rest of the market. George looks to the global picture and raises the long-term question that faces the UK IT services business.

Accesso also looks to be regaining its poise but reminds us that it is not just hardware companies that are subject to customer and supply chain timing issues.

Cirata is growing sales but is it just the old UK small-cap trap (AIM business model) of sales before profits before fund raise. The change in sales strategy in the US keeps the focus on how this company can make and grow profitable sales.

Tiny Build looks to a busy year, with new products – is the games sector in a comeback year?

Finally, we touch upon the Stanford AI report – nearly 500 pages covering everything from models, to hardware, to costs to energy. Thankfully, concisely summarised.

George and Ian catch up on the jumble of news, both good and bad, for UK-listed tech.

Pinewood.AI and Raspberry Pi deliver – although inventory build at Raspberry Pi is an issue that must be monitored.

BIG Technologies and the broken small and mid-cap due diligence stack. Whilst there’s still an interesting business, there is a far more interesting story that highlights how share-based remuneration can be a useful pointer into the heart of a company and its management.

And Alphawave Semi which has had Qualcomm come sniffing. Could the market be just as confused on Alphawave’s departure as it was on Alphawave’s arrival?

Ian and George catch up on small and mid-cap tech news.

George has been looking at some resilient and upbeat news from smaller less well-known players SRT, Xaar and Microlise and is still recovering from the not too surprising news that Computacenter has not delivered its 20th year of earnings growth.

Gamma results have encouraged Ian and whilst enthused by Judges Scientific as a company he is disappointed by the analyst meeting – where did all the research go?

The leads to reflection on Ian’s recent blog comparing listed company micro-cap funds and VC funds, which suggests that something has gone wrong with the small-cap due-diligence / investment decision ‘stack’. This has knock on impacts across small and mid-cap. Is more research the answer?

George and Ian catch up on tech as it impacts UK small and mid-caps.

Recent events have seen the US market, and US tech and smaller stocks in particular, backtrace whilst UK’s Techmark index has gone up 5% since the start of the year. Perhaps showing its worth as a shelter in times of trouble?

George updates on recent recruitment sector news, not great, but reminds us that elsewhere individual stocks where there is management change or revitalization can be interesting – pointing to NetCall and PCI Pal amongst the small-caps and the once giant Capita, also amongst the small-caps.

Ian revisits UK electronics and electricals: Spirent, Spectris, Renishaw et al. It leaves him puzzled at their lack of interest in talking about AI. Aren’t those involved in measurement and data generation going to be the lifeblood of industrial AI and for those with semiconductor manufacturing equipment companies as customers isn’t it AI that’s driving, or at least supporting, their top line now.

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George updates us on PLC awards winners – all well deserved and fingers crossed for none of those traditional subsequent share price declines.

Ian looks at the strategic reasons for PINE Pinewood's acquisition of Seez and the issue of where the value really lies in AI. Should investors be calling the quality of the acquisition decision now?

This leads George onto how AI is impacting the tech services companies and to where the real AI driven growth is going to come from for the software providers.

Crash landing back onto planet small-cap, they touch on the stories which are truly AI related, like KX, and the damage that can be done to portfolios and companies when management find themselves ‘managing to the broking story’.

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This week George and Ian catch up on recent tech newsflow and consider its impact on the UK small and mid-cap tech stocks.

George scans the wider market and whilst somewhat downbeat on the fact that the big boys in IT services are struggling to get back to where they were before the pandemic, at least in the UK the government looks to be spending some of the money it hasn’t got on tech – giving some grounds for optimism amongst the smaller companies, including Made Tech.

Ian scratches his head on Palantir’s business model and ponders just how dependent it is on share-based remuneration and how far and how fast does its non-conformist customer base have to grow to justify 70x sales. He also considers small-cap silicon play, Ensilica, a real tech company with the wrong balance sheet. Share price movements following announcements and forecast revisions suggest that the investors and wider market might have a better handle than the brokers on how the semiconductor industry works.

George and Ian discuss recent results and look at more detail at Oxford Metrics and FD Technologies.

Oxford Metrics (OMG) has faced head winds as it returns to ‘normal’ after the pandemic and supply chain issues. But it also now has the opportunity in smart manufacturing.

Historically Oxford Metrics has had strong positions in relatively small global markets, the move into smart manufacturing offers the opportunity to build a significantly bigger business in an application that is at a technological tipping point. A classic growth hardware and electronics story that needs good acquisitions and good execution.

FD Technologies (FDP) is focusing down upon its KX database business. The market looks to have picked up on the Total Addressable Market not the Serviceable Obtainable Market. Huge difference, and one that the management themselves don’t seem to have a grip on yet. On top of that its investors (or management) could well be killing the hypothetical golden goose.

If you want companies with growth valuations you have to give them the funds to drive the growth. The valuation suggests huge market opportunity, and there clearly is a significant one. However, the limited cash allocated after the post disposal distributions to drive sales suggests nothing of the sort. Tens of millions of sales and marketing will deliver exactly that in terms of revenues. Something’s got to give.

Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:15 Oxford Metrics (OMG)
07:38 FD Technologies