28th May 2026. 8.54am
Regency View:
Update
Regency View:
Update
This week’s AIM updates offered another reminder that investors are increasingly rewarding visibility, execution and structural growth stories, while showing very little patience for businesses exposed to cyclical uncertainty or delayed customer spending. Recruitment, legal services and specialist software names all attracted strong buying interest where momentum improved, while companies exposed to tariff disruption and industrial hesitation found sentiment turning sharply lower.
Gattaca Finally Seeing Momentum Return
Gattaca (GATC) was one of the stronger performers on AIM after upgrading full year guidance following continued strength in contract recruitment trading.
The recruitment sector has spent the past couple of years battling weak hiring confidence, slower permanent recruitment activity and broader macro uncertainty. That makes this update particularly interesting because it suggests parts of the market are beginning to stabilise again. Management now expects underlying profit before tax of at least £6.0m versus previous guidance of £4.5m, driven by continued strength across its contract recruitment operations.
Importantly, management also highlighted that the majority of its core sectors are now showing year on year growth. Contract recruitment businesses often prove more resilient during uncertain periods because companies remain reluctant to commit to permanent hires while still needing specialist skills. Gattaca also appears to be benefiting from operational discipline and prior strategic investments beginning to feed through into improved profitability. After a prolonged difficult period for UK staffing businesses, investors appear to be warming to the idea that the worst of the cycle may finally be passing.
What we are watching next: sustainability of contract growth and permanent recruitment recovery
Themes: Trading Update | Recruitment | Guidance Upgrade
GATC Daily Candle Chart
IXICO Building Something Bigger Than an Imaging CRO
IXICO (IXI) delivered one of the more interesting updates seen on AIM this week, combining strong underlying growth with an increasingly ambitious long term strategy around AI driven neuroscience analytics.
Revenue increased 23% to £3.9m during the first half while the order book jumped 38% to £18.1m, providing significantly improved revenue visibility. Gross margins also improved to 53%, reflecting a higher proportion of analysis related revenues and growing operational leverage within the model. The business remains loss making, but EBITDA losses narrowed again as revenues continue scaling.
What appears to be exciting investors most though is the emerging “TechBio” strategy. Rather than simply operating as a neuroscience imaging CRO, IXICO increasingly wants to position its proprietary IXI platform as a scalable technology layer that can integrate directly into wider clinical trial and healthcare ecosystems. The partnership with Medidata looks particularly important in that context, potentially opening access to a much broader customer base. The recent £10m raise was clearly designed to accelerate this opportunity. For now, the story remains early stage and execution risk still exists, but AIM investors continue to show strong appetite for businesses sitting at the intersection of healthcare, AI and data infrastructure.
What we are watching next: commercial traction from the TechBio strategy and path towards profitability
Themes: Interim Results | AI | Healthcare Technology | Biomarkers
IXI Daily Candle Chart
Knights Keeps Consolidating the Regions
Knights Group (KGH) continued its steady rise higher after delivering another strong trading update built around organic growth, acquisitions and disciplined operational execution.
Full year revenue is expected to rise 28% to around £207m while underlying EBITDA should increase 19% to approximately £51m. Particularly encouraging was the acceleration in organic growth during the second half, which moved into double digits after a softer first half. That shift likely reassured investors that momentum across the underlying business remains healthy rather than purely acquisition driven.
The broader regional legal consolidation story also remains intact. Knights continues attracting senior professionals away from traditional partnerships while building national scale across the UK regions. The acquisition pipeline remains active and discussions with Moore Barlow are still progressing. Investors continue to like the combination of recurring professional services revenues, strong cash generation and fragmented market dynamics. It is not the flashiest AIM story, but it increasingly looks like a very well executed long term compounding model.
What we are watching next: acquisition pipeline progression and organic growth momentum
Themes: Trading Update | Legal Services | Acquisitions | Consolidation
KGH Daily Candle Chart
Nexteq Hit by Tariffs and Gaming Weakness
Nexteq (NXQ) moved sharply lower after warning that revenue for FY26 would come in materially below previous expectations as conditions deteriorated within its Quixant gaming division.
The problem appears to be a combination of indirect tariff disruption and rising component costs, particularly around memory and storage hardware. Those higher costs are filtering through into end market pricing, reducing customer demand and softening order visibility. Management now expects FY26 revenues to come in roughly 15% below previous expectations, with profits also taking a corresponding hit.
To management’s credit, the update did not feel panicked. Gross margins are holding up reasonably well and Densitron continues delivering growth through its higher value “more than the display” strategy. The company also highlighted an encouraging longer term opportunity pipeline, particularly within Brazil and newer gaming software products. However, in the current market environment, investors are showing little appetite for cyclical technology businesses exposed to delayed customer spending and geopolitical uncertainty. Until visibility improves, the shares may struggle to regain momentum.
What we are watching next: recovery in Quixant order visibility and Brazil gaming opportunities
Themes: Trading Update | Gaming Technology | Tariffs | Industrial Electronics
NXQ Daily Candle Chart
Synectics Expanding Beyond Energy
Synectics (SNX) continued to build on its strong operational momentum with another encouraging AGM update, particularly around contract wins across gaming, transport and public infrastructure markets.
The standout development was the company’s largest ever Canadian contract win, where Synectics secured a surveillance systems deal for a large casino and integrated resort in Ontario. The group also announced additional transport related wins worth more than £1.4m involving bus fleet surveillance solutions for a UK regional authority. These wins reinforce management’s push towards building a more diversified and repeatable business model.
There is still some caution around the energy division, where customers continue delaying investment decisions amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. However, importantly, management stressed that the quality and scale of the pipeline remains intact, with the issue largely one of timing rather than outright cancellation. Investors also appear increasingly encouraged by Synectics’ broader strategic transition towards a more scalable partner driven model. The shares have already had a very strong run over the past year, but operationally the business still appears to be moving in the right direction.
What we are watching next: energy sector project timing and continued order intake momentum
Themes: AGM Update | Surveillance Technology | Transport | Critical Infrastructure
SNX Daily Candle Chart
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