Top stock ideas for 2026 that offer solidity and growth

We’re now halfway through the decade that began with Covid, which was succeeded by a surge in the cost of living. Geopolitical turmoil has also buffeted markets in recent years. 2025, however, was a good one for equities. Let’s see how the companies I picked early this year have fared over the previous 12 months.

Four of the six proved profitable, and the portfolio delivered an average return of 35%, comfortably ahead of the FTSE All World index’s 19.5%. This means that my picks have delivered an 89.65% return since 2021, or a yearly average of 17.93%.

This compares very favourably with most fund managers’ performances, as they usually fail to beat their benchmarks (despite their high fees for trying to do so). I also comfortably beat the market as the FTSE All-World achieved 55.9% in the same period. This means I am outperforming the market by 60%.

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Luxury retailer Burberry has had a turbulent year, hampered by the tariffs and a shaky backdrop for household spending on luxury goods. The stock, which I tipped at 962p, fell as low as 596p before rebounding to new multi-year highs. The turnaround is progressing well and the investment thesis is intact – I believe there is more to come.

PensionBee, a platform that consolidates people’s pensions into a single, easily manageable online account and helps people manage them, has made great strides, expanding its customer base, which provides recurring revenue.

The company’s cash position more than doubled year on year in the third quarter to £33.3 million, from £14.6 million last year. The group is targeting one million invested customers by 2034 and with 297,000 already in the bag I believe the bull case is even stronger with a slight decline in price.

Gulf Marine Services is a provider of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels (SESVs) for the offshore-energy sector. The stock has been very volatile and is finishing the year almost unchanged, despite being up 43% at one stage.

This is despite profit upgrades and a successful refinancing of the loan facility, resulting in a lower net-interest margin. In view of this progress and the price staying steady, I think the stock is a more attractive buy now than it was a year ago. At some stage, with continued deleveraging, the company’s improvement should be recognised by the market.

Filtronic is a British company specialising in the design, development, and manufacture of advanced radiofrequency (RF) communication components and sub-systems. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is a key customer.

Filtronic has been a major star in 2025. As I wrote last December, there was plenty of upside despite the high valuation as long as the business kept performing well. It has, with more profit upgrades emerging, and more follow-on orders from SpaceX. Again, there could be continued upside. However, I believe the balance between risk and reward has now changed as the price has caught up with the story.

Cybersecurity outfit Intercede has been the sole disappointment this year. I feel this is because there have been no big one-off contracts, as there were in previous years. This is a solid and resilient business, and I believe there is more upside here as the story continues to unfold.

Audioboom, a top global podcast platform, has been another top performer and a big contributor to my overall result this year, along with Filtronic. I was surprised to see that the company is considering putting itself up for sale so soon after raising money for the acquisition of Adelicious, another podcast network. While Audioboom has been a big winner already, I do feel there could be more to come.

This year’s selection are all cash-generative companies and established businesses. I have been burnt in the past by picking stocks without positive cash flow, and as there are no stop-losses allowed when choosing shares for a year, I’ve decided they are too risky to include. Remember, as always, my picks are never tips. They are ideas only. I do my best to highlight both positives and negatives, but you should do your own research.

Four stock ideas for 2026

1. Virgin Wines (Aim: VINO)

Virgin Wines is an online wine retailer. It floated in March 2021, and was buffeted by the cost-of-living crisis and changes to Apple’s iOS 14.5 operating system, which hampered online advertising. However, the group appears to have steadied the ship. Expenditure on acquiring customers has fallen and the business has remained profitable throughout.

At a market value of £27.1 million, the business boasts net cash of £9.3 million – after £2 million of shares were repurchased during the period. The cash it reports is split between the value of customers’ deposits and the actual cash on the company’s balance sheet, and not given as a single figure, as is the case at another wine retailer.

This year Virgin Wines managed to acquire 28% more customers by spending just 6% more. A new mobile app to be released in early 2026 will help customers engage with the business more efficiently. Commercial relationships with Ocado and Moonpig help explain why Virgin Wines recently announced that its pre-tax profit numbers are running ahead of expectations.

Earnings and net cash are expected to fall in the year to 30 June 2027, as the investment in acquiring customers eases, and there has been a further share buyback of up to 7.15% of the shares in issue approved.

If the company can now acquire quality customers who deliver a payback over the long run, then Virgin Wines could have a bright future. The market has hated this stock, but the early green shoots are starting to appear.

2. Peel Hunt (Aim: PEEL)

Peel Hunt is another Covid float, listing in September 2021 at 228p per share. It now looks as though the business is entering a new phase of growth. The current share price is 50% below the price at the initial public offering (IPO).

But a bet on Peel is a bet that the UK market will rebound, and Peel is in pole position with a growing list of corporate clients. It now provides investment-banking services for 57 FTSE-350 companies as well as many smaller growth companies. Offerings range from corporate broking and research to trading and flotations. Net assets currently stand at £100.7 million, against a market value of £119.1 million, and while there are no forecasts we can see the business generated a net profit of £8.3 million in the six months to 30 September 2025. Sales rose significantly in the same period, to £74.4 million from £53.8 million, but we also have to accept that this is a volatile figure as it is geared towards financial markets. But if you believe we are in for a new cycle of growth, Peel Hunt is lean and ready to capitalise.

3. THG (LSE: THG)

THG went public at 500p in September 2020. THG is an online retailer with a variety of brands. Its value has collapsed more than 90% since it listed. I have been a vocal bear on THG for some time, but when the facts appear to have changed I reserve the right to change my mind. Successful investors in equities always update prior assumptions when new information is released. The THG of today, in my opinion, is very different from the THG of a few years ago. The business had its strongest quarter of organic sales growth since 2021, with both THG Beauty and THG Nutrition’s growth accelerating.

THG’s Myprotein is one of the top nutrition, diet, and fitness brands in the UK. The brand is now expanding through collaborations with Mars and moving into gyms and supermarkets. I think the move offline solidifies Myprotein’s brand and presence, in addition to securing new growth and new customers. THG also sold Claremont Ingredients for £103 million, having bought it in late 2020 for £52 million, which proves it can spot and grow value. I believe Myprotein has the potential to keep growing and maintain dominance in its sector, which bodes well for THG without factoring in the growth of its beauty offering.

The overall business carries £321.4 million of net debt as of June 2025. However, the sale of Claremont will reduce this figure, and with the Beauty and Nutrition divisions both growing we could soon see a rebound in THG’s shares.

Still, it is worth noting that THG is forecast to be loss-making in 2026 before making a profit of £6.24 million in 2027. I would highlight that a lot of things can happen in that time, but also that there have been two share placings in the last two years.

THG’s cash balance was £129.4 million in mid-2025, down from £287.7 million in the first half of 2024. But we can also see that £181.7 million was a repayment of bank borrowings, while £21.7 million in cash was generated from issuing more shares.

A figure of £40.5 million for net cash used in operating activities shows that the company is more than adequately financed to keep the lights on for the foreseeable future.

4. Sylvania Platinum (Aim: SLP)

Sylvania Platinum is not another Covid float – the only stock in this quartet not to be. It is a South African company producing platinum-group metals (PGMs) such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium. As a result of the commodity prices being volatile, Sylvania’s profits and share price are both also prone to wild fluctuations.

For example, net profit was $99.8 million in 2021 and $7 million in 2024. But platinum has hit highs not seen since 2013, while palladium has fallen from $3,000 in 2022 to $1,350 in 2025, via a low of $850 in 2024. The company’s balance sheet is strong, with net cash of $60.9 million and management has a proven record of returning cash to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks.

Panmure Gordon has pencilled in $52 million of profit before tax for the year to 30 June 2026, and if we’re now entering a new bullish phase for palladium and platinum, as the recent strong price action indicates, then Sylvania’s cash and profits could be growing further in the coming years.

Michael holds long equity positions in BOOM, VINO, PEEL, THG, and SLP. You can find more of Michael’s trading ideas at newsletter.buythebullmarket.com

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