Once royalty of the AIM market, with a valuation that once put it on the cusp of the FTSE 100, ASOS’s fall from grace has been rapid—and well documented.
Earlier this week, its shares were languishing at levels last seen 17 years ago.
But Friday brought some much-needed cheer as the stock leapt 18 per cent following a brief trading update suggesting its turnaround plan might just be working. Underlying profitability is now expected to beat market forecasts.
A bright spot was a return to growth in full-price sales of its own-label ranges. ASOS credited its ‘Test & React’ model, which trials small batches of new designs and scales up quickly if they land with customers. This approach now makes up over 15 per cent of own-brand sales and is growing.
Shore Capital analysts, while still cautious about shifting customer habits and wider market pressures, welcomed the group’s progress in shoring up profits and strengthening its balance sheet.
With the shares trading at their lowest level since 2008, they now look like a relative bargain. On this basis, the broker upgraded its rating from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’.
Turning to the broader market, growth stock investors had something to smile about as the AIM All Share rose 1.2 per cent over the week to 694.97, outperforming even the FTSE 100—despite jitters in the US rippling across global markets.
Sticking with the upbeat stories (for now), Pri0r1ty Intelligence soared 119 per cent after clinching a deal worth up to £100,000 to build an AI-powered information hub and website for the charity Leukaemia Care.
Asos was once royalty of the AIM market, with a valuation that once put it on the cusp of the FTSE 100
Thruvision, the employee screening specialist, enjoyed the week’s most explosive rise (up 128 per cent) after a trading statement appeared to belatedly hit home with investors.
Pensana jumped 45 per cnet after securing $268million to advance its Longonjo rare earths project in Angola. The cash—sourced from the Africa Finance Corporation, Absa Bank and Angola’s sovereign wealth fund – will fund phase one of the mine, which is led by seasoned industry figure Paul Atherly.
Now, for the gloomier corners of the market.
Alpha Growth plunged 77 per cent after announcing plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange, blaming weak investor interest.
Over at Trakm8, the story was no better. The telematics group issued a profit warning after losing a key contract, saying 2025 revenue will likely be 10 per cent below the £3.3million reported for 2024.
There’s an old market cliché that it’s better to travel than arrive. Predator Oil & Gas was the latest example. Its shares fell 20 per cent as investors locked in gains after a promising update from its MOU-5 well in Morocco. The company confirmed its pre-drill concept and found a surprise 30-metre sand interval – never before seen in the Guercif Basin.
Harvest Minerals had a rollercoaster week that ended on a high, as investors slowly digested solid production numbers for its KP Fertil fertiliser. The Brazil-focused group delivered 37,186 tonnes. After hitting a low of 0.35p on Monday, shares bounced to 0.45p by Friday, up 12.5 per cent for the week.
And finally, ANGLE (up 5 per cent) announced the successful completion of two major projects for AstraZeneca. The work expands use of ANGLE’s Parsortix liquid biopsy system, which isolates cancer cells from blood samples, allowing non-invasive monitoring of disease progression – unlike traditional tissue biopsies.
The Surrey-based firm has developed two new tests: one for the androgen receptor in prostate cancer, and another for detecting DNA damage via micronuclei in tumour cells. Both have been approved by AZ and are now being used in clinical trials.
ANGLE said these developments open the door to supporting large-scale studies for AstraZeneca and will be added to its wider commercial offering. For anyone reading between the lines: this could be a big opportunity.
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