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Whereas the FTSE 250 has broadly lagged the FTSE 100 in 2026, that headline masks some really extraordinary particular person tales.
For instance, Raspberry Pi‘s (LSE:RPI) surged 165% since January. And CMC Markets (LSE:CMCX) is up 141% over the identical interval. Each are small-cap-turned-mid-cap companies which have surprised the market with back-to-back earnings upgrades.
However can they actually hold climbing from right here?
Why Raspberry Pi’s erupted
If you happen to aren’t aware of Raspberry Pi, it’s the Cambridge-based firm behind the credit-card-sized computer systems beloved by engineers, hobbyists, and educators the world over.
Since itemizing on the London Inventory Alternate in 2024, it’s quietly reworked from a charity-adjacent training venture right into a critical industrial computing enterprise.
The newest buying and selling replace informed a exceptional story. Within the first half of 2026, the corporate expects to promote over 4m models and subsequently upgraded its full-year EBITDA steerage to considerably above the market consensus of $42m.
The driving force? A surging wave of demand from OEM clients who’re utilizing Raspberry Pi’s expertise to construct out AI edge computing energy in addition to industrial automation programs. And with AI-related spending nonetheless accelerating, this large tailwind doesn’t appear to be slowing.
Nevertheless, the gravy prepare is perhaps about to come across a significant issue. For probably the most half, Raspberry Pi’s been efficiently leveraging its reminiscence stockpiles to proceed manufacturing its chips at low price.
However these stockpiles are beginning to run low. And with reminiscence costs skyrocketing throughout the sector, gross margins might face vital compression threat within the second half of 2026. And after such a powerful bull run for its share value, a sudden deterioration of profitability might spark a painful sell-off.
What about CMC Markets?
CMC Markets is an internet monetary buying and selling platform and is in a really totally different scenario to Raspberry Pi. The agency permits each retail and institutional traders to have interaction with contracts for distinction (CfD), unfold betting, and different stockbroking providers.
The agency makes its cash by charging transaction charges, which ties income to buying and selling exercise. However in 2026, that isn’t what’s triggered the inventory to go parabolic. As an alternative, this newfound momentum truly stems from new enterprise partnerships.
Third-party operators can now faucet in and piggyback CMC’s platform as a substitute of constructing out their very own buying and selling infrastructure, giving CMC a rapidly-expanding, low-effort, high-margin income stream.
Subsequently, its newest buying and selling replace revealed a large steerage improve for its 2027 fiscal yr (ending in March). Particularly, internet working earnings is now anticipated to be not less than £550m versus earlier steerage of £460m-£480m.
Is now the time to purchase?
Like Raspberry Pi, CMC Markets has its weak spots. Structurally, the corporate stays extremely depending on buying and selling exercise to generate transaction charges. With the inventory market turning into more and more unstable, the corporate’s presently having fun with the height of this cycle. However when market circumstances ultimately cool, development might sluggish significantly, or probably even reverse.
Very like reminiscence shortages, it’s an actual threat that traders should think about fastidiously. Having mentioned that, with spectacular long-term development potential, each firms could possibly be value investigating additional as we speak. They usually’re not the one alternative that’s caught my eye proper now…
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Zaven Boyrazian doesn’t maintain any positions within the firms talked about.
