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The FTSE 100 has its very personal synthetic intelligence (AI) play, and it’s simply the best-performing progress inventory on the blue-chip index within the final yr.
The corporate is Computacenter (LSE: CCC), and its shares have rocketed 126% in 12 months. That’s streets forward of second-best performer, jap European financial institution Lion Finance Group, which ‘solely’ grew 90%. So what’s occurring?
Dwelling-grown tech hero
Computacenter is a know-how companies firm that helps huge companies and public sector organisations purchase, set up and handle their IT. It’s benefited from the large spending spree on digital infrastructure, supplying servers, networking tools and companies to firms constructing more and more highly effective computing programs.
The outcome? First-half 2026 income soared 72% to £6.85bn, whereas adjusted working revenue jumped 87% to £153m.
Computacenter additionally has a foot in North America, and this market was the star performer, with working revenue greater than doubling because it received enterprise from hyperscalers, neocloud and enterprise prospects. Computacenter shot into the FTSE 100 in June though earlier than that, its efficiency was fairly uneven.
So that is an AI play, however as a beneficiary of AI infrastructure somewhat than a developer. In some respects, that makes it much less dangerous, because it’s not engaged in a life-or-death race to invent the world’s supreme chatbot.
However it does depend upon prospects persevering with to spend monumental sums on AI infrastructure. If the growth slows, profitable orders could possibly be delayed or disappear altogether.
Unsurprisingly after such a powerful run, Computacenter isn’t low-cost with a price-to-earnings ratio of 31. That’s twice the FTSE 100 common. The trailing dividend yield is simply 1.35%.
Three causes the shares might maintain climbing:
- AI infrastructure spending might stay monumental for years as firms construct ever bigger computing capability.
- Computacenter’s North American enlargement offers it entry to a a lot greater know-how market.
- Its sturdy stability sheet offers it scope to make acquisitions and maintain investing in progress.
Three causes they might battle:
- A slowdown in hyperscaler spending might hit orders laborious after such fast progress.
- The shares at the moment are priced for substantial future earnings progress, leaving much less room for disappointment.
- Computacenter operates on comparatively skinny margins, so a change within the mixture of enterprise might have a disproportionate impact on earnings.
So what do the consultants suppose? Eleven analysts give a median one-year goal of 6,206p, If right, that might mark somewhat extra modest progress of virtually 14% from at this time’s 5,454p. Eight fee it a Purchase, whereas 4 say Maintain. None say it’s a Promote.
Computacenter seems like an interesting enterprise. It affords real publicity to the AI spending growth, somewhat than merely slapping AI onto its advertising materials. However at this time’s buyers have missed out on the early motion.
Traders may nonetheless contemplate shopping for however, personally, I believe it’s a bit too late. I’ll recover from it. Like many buyers, I have already got outsized publicity to US tech and AI, and don’t really want extra. Fortunately, I can see different thrilling UK progress shares on the market at this time.
What progress inventory can we like higher than Computacenter Plc proper now?
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Harvey Jones doesn’t maintain any positions within the firms talked about.
