Finding stocks to buy like Nvidia and Palantir early on has generated jaw-dropping returns for investors. Even in the last five years, these AI tech titans have seen their share prices skyrocket by 1,352% and 843% respectively.
Yet, compared to today, neither of these businesses was grabbing headlines back in 2020, with the conversation being dominated by Covid vaccine healthcare stocks and remote working stocks.
It just goes to show that investing in under-the-radar opportunities can yield phenomenal longer-term results. The trouble is that spotting such opportunities is far easier said than done.
Yet looking at 4imprint Group (LSE:FOUR) today, some promising tell-tale signs of a hidden winner are starting to emerge.
Going against the crowd
As a quick crash course, 4imprint’s a marketing enterprise that makes and sells branded promotional merchandise on behalf of other businesses. Think of things like clothing, bags, stationery and displays.
As expenses go, this is the sort of thing most companies tend to cut back on during times of market softness. And given the current economic climate both in the UK and the US, that’s translated into weaker order growth for this business.
This headwind has only been compounded by the added supply chain costs of US tariffs, putting pressure on margins. And subsequently, investor sentiment has turned sour in 2025, with 4imprint shares tumbling by around 25% in the last 12 months.
Obviously, that’s not a great sign. And yet investors may have overreacted. This isn’t the first time the company’s had to navigate a cyclical downturn. And its ability to execute and position itself for eventual recoveries is how management built the business into a £1bn enterprise that dominates its niche industry.
Fun fact, even with the recent sell-off, the stock has climbed just shy of 600% since 2015 – doubling the performance of the S&P 500 and more than quadrupling that of the FTSE 100 over the same period.
Yet today, with investors overly focused on short-term challenges, 4imprint shares are trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of just 12. And with pessimism controlling momentum, a long-term buying opportunity may have just emerged.
What to watch
It’s easy to understand why investors are getting nervous. New customer order volumes are down 13% year-to-date, with full-year guidance suggesting a slightly pullback in both revenue and earnings compared to 2024.
That’s obviously frustrating, yet the business is proving to be quite resilient even with the current headwinds. Its cash-generative nature hasn’t changed. And as such, the balance sheet still has a substantial $124m war chest at management’s disposal with no debt in sight.
At the same time, while tariffs are applying pressure, margins have actually improved on the back of cost-saving initiatives. And that also means when supply chain pressures normalise, profitability could climb even higher.
Obviously, there remains a big question mark over when market conditions will improve and demand for promotional materials ramps back up. But the company appears to have more than enough financial flexibility to once again weather the storm, and then proceed to climb even higher.
So for investors looking for top stocks to buy now, 4imprint Group might be worth considering. And it’s not the only UK stock I’ve got my eye on right now.
