But as every experienced investor knows, past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. So now that 2026 has kicked off, which stocks could potentially deliver similar explosive gains? Here are three top picks from institutional investors.

1. PureTech Health

First up is PureTech Health (LSE:PRTC) – a clinical-stage biotech enterprise with a diversified portfolio of drug candidates.

Revenues have been quite lumpy in recent years, and higher interest rates have made it more expensive to fund research. However, the analyst team at Peel Hunt believe investors are drastically undervaluing the earnings potential of the group’s drug portfolio should its treatments eventually receive the regulatory green light.

Bringing new drugs to the commercial market is obviously easier said than done, with most attempts ending in failure. But if PureTech’s successful, the Peel Hunt team believes the stock could skyrocket to 508p – a massive 278% potential gain!

2. AFC Energy

AFC Energy‘s (LSE:AFC) another UK stock with explosive potential, according to experts. The most optimistic share price forecasts for the fuel cell technology business suggest a 145% capital gain. And it isn’t hard to see why some experts are excited.

With more governments worldwide striving to reach Net Zero, AFC’s hydrogen fuel cell technology offers a unique solution to off-grid clean energy needs for electric vehicle (EV) recharging stations, data centres, and even construction sites.

Of course, the hydrogen market remains young, with adoption unproven. And with AFC only recently starting to ship its fuel cells to customers, it isn’t clear whether it can scale up operations smoothly.

Nevertheless, with commercial orders now starting to emerge, the group’s seemingly at the beginning of a long and potentially lucrative journey.

3. Synthomer

Synthomer‘s (LSE:SYNT) also flagged for its exciting potential, with an average 130p share price target among experts — 115% higher than where the stock trades today.

Now that demand for its speciality polymers and adhesives is back on the rise, the multi-year downturn in its share price could be set to reverse. Even more so, given all the self-help initiatives the business has been executing to bolster margins.

However, the exact speed and timing of this recover remains a bit of a question mark with its Coatings & Construction Solutions segment continuing to face cyclical pressures that could delay its rebound.

The bottom line

All three businesses seemingly have substantial untapped growth potential that could propel investor portfolios in 2026. But similarly, each is also navigating tough challenges that could ultimately prevent them from realising these gains.

That’s why, no matter how optimistic the share price forecasts look on paper, investors always need to do a deep dive to make sure they understand both the risks and potential rewards. And personally, I think there are many better, lower-risk UK shares to take advantage of today.

The post 3 UK shares tipped to more than DOUBLE my money in 2026! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

But not all do and I own some in my portfolio. Here are two I am watching this month, for different reasons.

Topps Tiles

I already own some shares in Topps Tiles (LSE: TPT) and to date they have been a crashing disappointment.

But if the share price moves down enough this month, I will be happy to add some more to my portfolio. It was briefly below 30p during March and at that level, I would see the share as a potential bargain, albeit a risky one.

The risks are linked to a number of factors, but a key one is customer demand. If the housing market is weak, demand for tiles and floor coverings could fall. On top of that, Topps’ ambitious growth plans could distract management from keeping the basics running smoothly.

The other side of that coin, though, is that if those growth plans succeed, Topps could generate a lot more revenue and profit than it does now. Over the medium term, management aims to grow turnover by around 47%.

The penny share pays a dividend and expects this year’s full-year payout to be at least as high as last year’s.

Topps ended the first half of its financial year with just £1.2m of net debt. So far this year, sales have been growing. I think the company’s strong market position, and wide range of sales platforms both online and offline, combined with deep industry expertise could all potentially help it unlock more value in future.

AFC Energy

I continue to think that there could be strong opportunities for some renewable energy shares. The challenge, as always, remains figuring out which ones and at what price!

AFC Energy (LSE: AFC) has been on my radar for a while. The share sells for pennies and jumped around 30% last week after it announced an agreement to jointly develop a range of small-to-large-scale, highly efficient, ammonia crackers for hydrogen production with an unnamed “leading global industrial S&P 500 company”.

Not only could that potentially unlock large future revenue streams for AFC Energy, but it may also end up acting as an important proof of concept that helps attract more clients.

But while I will be eyeing AFC in coming months to see whether there is further news that can transform the company’s prospects, for now I have no plans to buy the share.

Revenue surged last year but remains small, at £4m. The company continue to bleed red ink. Last year saw AFC Energy post a post-tax loss of £17.4m, after losing roughly the same amount the prior year too.

That is not a sustainable business model for the long term. So while I see AFC’s technology as potentially a strong asset – and think this week’s news helps support such a view – I want to see far more evidence that it is on a clear path to profitability before I would consider adding the share to my portfolio. I will be watching to see if that is delivered.

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The shares have increased 221%. That is despite falling over 80% from their 2021 high to the current price.

Clearly, it has been a wild journey.

But might buying now set me up well for the future as the company continues to commercialise its technology?

Forwards movement

The company updated the market yesterday with the news that its latest modular ammonia cracker architecture has achieved better-than-expected operational efficiency. It has hit AFC’s target, a year ahead of schedule.

That gives the firm a strong story when it comes to reconverting ammonia to hydrogen. In countries where there are not low-cost sources of hydrogen, that could make AFC’s product appealing. Basically, ammonia can be shipped to such markets and then converted to hydrogen to produce hydrogen energy using AFC’s cracker.

AFC’s technology has long been promising, which is one reason the renewable energy stock did so well several years ago. This latest news is another step on the road to commercialising it.

Rich valuation

That could be a long road, though, and nobody knows where it might end. The technology has yet to be manufactured and commercialised on a mass scale. Meanwhile, the business could face all sorts of challenges, from competitive pressure to cash burn.

In its interim results, the company reported revenues from customer contracts of £201,000. Not only is that miniscule for a FTSE share that commands a £116m market capitalisation, it is even smaller than in the prior-year period.

The topline performance was weak, but the bottom line looks even more alarming to me. In the six month period covered by its interim results, AFC Energy made a loss of £6.3m.

The business ended the period with around £33m in cash and cash equivalents. That gives it liquidity for now, but at the current rate of cash burn the company may need to raise more money over the next several years, raising a risk of shareholder dilution.

The technology is promising – but sales are small, losses are relatively large and the business model remains unproven.

I therefore think that, even with the AFC Energy share price in pennies, the valuation looks high.

Wait and see

That could change.

If the company ramps up production and commercialisation, its technology could reach a wider audience. That would boost revenues substantially and could also help it move into the black. The shares could move higher in response.

At the moment, though, I think there is a huge amount of work still to be done.

I prefer to invest in a proven business rather than simply a technology. So, for now, I will not be buying shares in AFC Energy.

The post This FTSE share has tripled in five years. Could it move higher? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

On the other hand, the renewable energy share has still more than doubled in the past five years.

Having fallen so far in the past couple of years, could the AFC Energy share price get back anywhere like where it was?

Good news

Last month the company announced that its ammonia cracker technology successfully achieved 99.99% hydrogen from single reactor testing, with the results being independently tested by the National Physical Laboratory.

As the company explained, the results “highlight the ability of AFC Energy’s new ammonia cracking technology to deliver fuel cell grade hydrogen on a modular, scalable basis”. That could have potentially huge business implications, depending on how successfully the technology is commercialised.

Last month also saw Speedy Hire confirm that its intention to form a joint venture with AFC “remains on track”. The hire company added it expects that to offer its customers “exciting opportunities”.

Need to prove the business model

If the Speedy Hire tie-up is finalised and produces substantial business results, that could be a boon for AFC. It will give it a route to market and also allow it to prove the commercial potential of its technology at scale.

That can be important for a small company, and I certainly see AFC that way. Revenue from customer contracts fell in the first half and sat at just £200,000. Despite being a penny stock, AFC still commands a market capitalisation of £95m.

I think that revenue could surge, for example if the Speedy Hire partnership produces decent results. Not only is the potential market opportunity high, but the baseline for AFC’s revenue is so low that even a relatively modest number of sales could make a meaningful difference to it.

That might not solve the company’s profitability challenges, however.

The first half alone saw a £6.3m post-tax loss. But much bigger revenues could at least help the company spread its fixed costs more broadly, something that could ultimately bring it closer to turning a profit. If that happens, I think the shares could soar.

No rush to invest

There is a lot of work to do between here and there, though. AFC has a history of large losses and small revenues. It continues to burn cash, and I see a risk that that could lead to further shareholder dilution at some point.

Commercialisation can be challenging, and AFC is far from the only company working to try and build a business in its field.

For me there are too many ifs and what ifs to make AFC investable for now. I would rather wait to see how the business develops before considering buying the shares.

The post Is this green energy penny sock about to soar? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Still, they are 86% higher than five years ago. That reflects the growing enthusiasm some investors have had for renewable energy shares, even when the journey has been bumpy.

Today, the company published its interim results and they contained some promising developments. So with the AFC Energy shares selling for pennies, could this be a bargain buying opportunity for investors?

Positive developments

Some of the good news from the recent six-month period included generating revenue from power towers leased to eight customer sites and the completion of a successful validation by engineering giant ABB of AFC’s S+ Series fuel cell stacks.

After the period ended, the business announced plans to partner with Speedy Hire to establish a generator rental joint venture.  

All of these developments strike me as positive indicators that the company is moving forward in qualifying, validating and commercialising a product portfolio based on its promising hydrogen technology.

I also appreciate the fact that AFC increasingly seems to be working to identify specific use cases for its products based on industry needs. That could help its sales pitch to prospective clients.

Lots to do

Still, it is important to keep things in perspective.

Revenue actually fell compared to the same period last year and came in at only £0.2m. For a company with a market capitalisation of £113m, that is very small beer.

Meanwhile, although the loss was trimmed compared to last year’s interim results, it still came in at £6.3m. The operating loss was even bigger than that, but bank interest and tax benefits helped reduce the reported loss.

The company had cash and cash equivalents of £33m at the end of April, but continues to burn cash.

Prospects and valuation

AFC, then, is in the classic bind of many growth companies.

It has promising technology, is widening its customer base and is exploring ways to ramp up commercialisation. Indeed, it is working on a contract manufacturing strategy that could help the business manufacture at scale more easily than it could manage in-house.

However, as has long been the case with the company, there remains a lot of ‘jam tomorrow’ when investors would feel more reassured by jam today. Investors greeted the results coolly, with the shares down around 7% in early trading, as I write this.

I think AFC Energy shares could ultimately prove a bargain at today’s price if the company can improve its speed of execution and ramp up sales significantly. I believe it is making some smart moves to help this happen, like the proposed tie-up with Speedy Hire.

But for now, there remains a huge amount yet to be proven. I see risks including cash burn and an unproven business model at scale that could end up leading AFC Energy shares to fall further rather than recover lost ground.

So until there is much firmer evidence of a rapidly improving business and clear path to profitability, I will not be buying.

The post Down 45% in months, are AFC Energy shares now a bargain? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

That means the firm now has a market capitalisation of little over £100m. I have been looking for some renewable energy shares to add to my portfolio. Could it be a smart move to buy AFC?

Ongoing potential

To see the firm as a possible bargain, I would need to feel confident in its long-term commercial prospects.

Last year, revenue from customer contracts actually fell slightly, to just £582,000.

But adding together revenue and deferred revenue saw a figure of £2.1m, a sharp jump from the prior year. The business expects this year to see revenue growth as rentals of its fuel cell systems grow along with hydrogen sales.

By focusing on the construction sector with its need for short-term portable power sources, I think AFC has hit on a promising area in which to grow its business.

Unproven business model

But if the outlook is rosy, why has the AFC Energy share price been tumbling?

While the sales outlook seems to offer promise, for now actual sales remain negligible. Meanwhile, the company is heavily lossmaking. Last year saw losses after tax increase from £9.4m to £16.4m.

AFC ended the year with a cash balance of £40m, although it continues to burn cash at an alarming rate.

So although the company has promising technology and a growing client list, it remains to be seen whether it will be able to grow revenues to such a point that it can turn a profit.

Possible bargain

If it does manage that, today’s AFC Energy share price could end up looking like a bargain.

Engineering giant ABB paid £2m to AFC last year and the same amount already this year, as part of a partnership that includes a planned sale of multiple AFC products to the company. That shows the serious financial potential that AFC’s products might ultimately have.

If it can ramp up sales to ABB and use that as a proof of concept to woo other potential customers, I think AFC could end up with a very successful business.

Still risky

The problem I see for now is that a lot remains to be proven.

Companies like ABB often sign agreements with small companies with promising technology. Sometimes they develop into something big, but often they simply wilt away after a couple of years.

AFC is operating in a crowded field. Its financial model remains unproven and it still has to demonstrate that it can scale up production to commercial levels. That is often harder than it may seem.

Those risks mean that, until its business model is truly convincing, I will not be investing in AFC Energy.

The post As the AFC Energy price keeps falling, could it be a risky bargain? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Understanding the rise

A good place to start is by considering why the shares have boomed.

Often when a company sees its shares surge by over 40% in a matter of weeks, like AFC has, it reflects some big news announcement investors hope could foreshadow improved business performance.

For AFC, though, that has not been the case. The company has not released any significant news about its business outlook to the stock market since the beginning of the year.

So I think the rise in the AFC Energy share price may reflect a more widespread rerating of renewable energy stocks in 2023 after a tough time last year. Ceres Power, for example, is up 28% in 2023 but down 18% on a one-year time frame. Meanwhile, ITM Power has added 7% this year but it still 58% lower than a year ago.

Valuing AFC Energy shares

A rising tide may lift all boats, but does AFC Energy stand out from other renewable energy shares in a way that might make its current valuation attractive?

It trades in pennies and has a market capitalisation of around £200m. Revenues remain tiny: just over half a million pounds last year. But the company continues to rack up losses year after year. The red ink after tax last year was £9.4m.

So, clearly, the current valuation reflects investor optimism about the company’s prospects rather than its current commercial performance. The company made considerable progress last year, including the first commercial order for its S Series liquid cooled fuel cell system. It has also been rolling out its power towers in the construction industry. Both developments should be good for revenues.

What comes next?

As it starts to prove its commercial viability, I expect AFC’s sales pipeline to grow. That could enthuse investors and lead to a higher share price. However, I also see risks. Commercialisation has been a slow process so far and it could remain that way.

Sales are not the same as profits. As competitor ITM has shown, sales at too low a price can actually end up making a company’s bottom line worse not better, as servicing costs add up. So I continue to see a risk that AFC will burn cash ramping up its sales efforts. It will likely also need to keep investing in growing manufacturing and servicing capabilities.

For that reason, I am not investing at the moment. With positive news, I think the AFC Energy share price could keep climbing. But for now I do not like its unproven commercial model, so will wait to see how things evolve in the coming year and beyond.

The post The AFC Energy share price has leapt 43% this year. Can it keep climbing? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Could this be the moment to add the company to my investment portfolio? Or might there be more disappointing returns ahead if I do?

Business making progress

The company’s interim results this year provided some grounds for optimism about business progress. For example, revenue from customer contracts grew 85% from the same period last year. Admittedly it was still a measly £276,000, which is peanuts for a company with a £164m market capitalisation. But at least there was strong growth albeit from a small base.

The company also announced that it had received the first commercial order of a key product line from engineering giant ABB. That could be worth up to £4m. AFC has already received a £2m non-refundable deposit from ABB. In a further boost, AFC announced last week that for the first time it had deployed one of its “S” series of power towers at a site in Spain. It was built and commissioned at AFC Energy’s UK factory.

If the zero emission hydrogen technology works well I think this proof of concept could attract a lot of potential sales interest in the construction sector across Europe and beyond. That might be good for sales – and in turn the value of AFC Energy shares.

A lot still to prove

However, while the company’s technology seems slowly to be gaining traction with possible buyers, I think there is a lot of work still to be done.

Real world use of the firm’s products remains at an early stage. It may be that this field experience leads to modification or redesign of the products before wider commercial use. That means that it is hard to know when or even if AFC Energy will be ready to go into the sort of large-scale production I think is needed to justify its current market capitalisation.

On top of that, while revenues grew in the first half, losses increased even faster. They more than doubled to £7.8m. Admittedly AFC Energy is in its development phase and that is often costly for a technology innovator. But making a loss of £7.8m on sales of £276,000 does not look like a long-term commercially viable strategy to me. While the company’s £49m of cash and equivalents at the end of the first half provides ample liquidity for now, I see a risk of future shareholder dilution if the business keeps spending far more than it generates in revenues.

I’m avoiding AFC Energy shares

I like the company’s technology and think it has real potential.

But it also has a lot to prove, not least that it has a commercially viable business model. Until there is more evidence of that, I will not be buying AFC Energy shares for my portfolio.

The post Down 63% in a year! Should I now buy AFC Energy shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The UK, Europe, and the US have made renewable energy part of their ‘build-back-better’ plans for post-Covid economic recovery. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led many countries to rethink their future energy security. And, more broadly, hydrogen is seen as a key element in the global drive to reduce emissions from energy consumption and achieve net zero by 2050.

While it’s still early days, some analysts estimate the hydrogen economy could be worth more than $10 trillion by that time.

What are hydrogen stocks?

Hydrogen stocks are companies in the renewable energy industry that are primarily focused on the development, manufacture, or sale of hydrogen fuel technology, equipment, or services.

Given the potential size of the market, it’s not surprising to see oil giants, like BP, major utilities, like SSE, and chemical companies, like Johnson Matthey, in the early stages of incorporating hydrogen energy into their business plans. 

However, there are a number of firms focused exclusively, or almost exclusively, on the hydrogen economy. Some have been established for many years.

Top hydrogen shares in the UK

Here are some of the UK’s biggest pure-play hydrogen stocks as of January 2026:

Ceres Power Holdings

Also founded in 2001, Ceres Power joined the stock market a few months after ITM in 2004. It used to be in the UK’s £1bn+ hydrogen stock category along with ITM Power. However, as investor excitement about the sector has calmed down, its market cap has returned to more sustainable levels.

However, following a series of new UK government-signed commercial contracts for green hydrogen projects, the company is now benefiting from a substantial tailwind that enabled its 2024 revenues to vastly exceed expectations.

Sadly, in 2025, this momentum was offset by the loss of licensing revenue, resulting in underperformance in its Engineering Services segment. While the group is making progress across other revenue streams, it remains a volatile business.

The company has developed solid oxide fuel cell technology for hydrogen production. Its strategy is to license its technology to global original equipment manufacturers and generate royalties as those manufacturers achieve full-scale commercialisation. Its partners include China’s Weichai Power and Germany’s Bosch. The former owns 20% of Ceres’s shares and the latter 18%.

ITM Power

Founded in 2001, ITM Power became the first hydrogen company on the London Stock Exchange when it listed in 2004.

It has developed and manufactures proton exchange membrane electrolysers, which create green hydrogen using only renewable electricity and water.

It has a partnership with Linde, the world’s largest industrial gas company, which also owns 16% of ITM’s shares. Other partners include oil giant Shell and leading European natural gas transport and storage operator Snam.

After a shaky few years of operational delays and disruption, the business has successfully begun fulfilling customer orders. And subsequently, revenue has expanded drastically since 2023, rising from £5.3m to £26m, with analysts forecasting sales to reach £48m by April 2026.

AFC Energy

Founded in 2006 and listed on the stock market in 2007, AFC Energy is one of a number of UK hydrogen stocks currently capitalised in the £100m-£150m bracket.

The company has developed alkaline fuel cell systems that use hydrogen to produce clean energy. It has inked a number of strategic collaborations, including with Swedish/Swiss technology multinational ABB, a leading provider of electric vehicle charge points and electrification and digitalisation technologies.

Clean Power Hydrogen

As mentioned, ITM is one of London’s largest and first-listed hydrogen stocks, and a leader in proton exchange membrane electrolysers. By contrast, Clean Power Hydrogen is aiming to ramp-up commercialisation of competing membrane-free electrolyser technology. It says this technology, in combination with cryogenic gas separation, delivers very high-purity hydrogen and medical-grade oxygen.

However, unlike ITM Power, Clean Power Hydrogen is still in its infancy, with no revenue generated in 2025. Unlike ITM Power, this business is still effectively in development and has yet to prove its commercial viability.

Yet that may change in 2026. Following the group’s latest milestones in late 2025, some analysts are now projecting that revenue could reach £5m by the end of the year.

Investing in US hydrogen shares

Despite a fair range of hydrogen stocks on the UK market, there are some larger enterprises in this sector on foreign exchanges. Here are the leading US players in order of market capitalisation as of January 2026:

• Bloom Energy – $31.56bn market cap.
• Plug Power – $3.27bn market cap.
• Ballard Power Systems – $814.37m market cap.
• FuelCell Energy  – $357.6m market cap.

Are hydrogen stocks right for you?

There’s little doubt the hydrogen economy will increase to many multiples of its current size in the coming decades. With such a strong structural backdrop for growth, investing in hydrogen shares could be highly rewarding.

Having said that, stocks in the sector also come with higher risk. The businesses are at an earlier stage of development than some in other areas of the renewable energy market. All five UK hydrogen companies and four US names featured are currently loss-making businesses. In addition, they’re not forecast to generate positive cash flows any time soon, far less pay dividends. As such, these won’t be the right stocks if your primary focus is on income.

As the hydrogen market grows, and rival technologies are put to the test when the full competitive dynamics of the industry emerge, there are likely to be winners and losers. If you’re prepared to accept above-average risk in exchange for potential high capital returns from the long-term winners, investing in green hydrogen stocks might be right for you.

The post Investing in Hydrogen: Top UK Hydrogen Stocks of 2026 appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Share price woes

The company’s share price chart is not a thing of beauty.

Over the past 12 months, the shares have fallen 67%. Looking back further though, this is something of a return to what went before. Before the price started its rapid ascent in November 2020, AFC Energy shares were trading within 10% or so of where they are at the moment. Between then and now, they moved a long way up — and a long way back down again.

What next?

The reasons for that fall are easy enough to understand. Indeed, I think they are in plain sight in the company’s interim results, which were published yesterday.

Revenue remains tiny – just £276,000 at the interim stage. While that represents an 85% increase on the same period last year, it looks like small beer for a company with a market capitalisation in excess of £150m.

Although revenues grew, so did losses – at a faster rate. They jumped 135% in the first half to stand at £7.8m. This means that, for £1 of revenue the company made in the first half, it lost over £28. That hardly sounds like a compelling business model.

Arguably though, this reflects the fact that AFC is still developing its business. That takes time. On the commercial front, there is good news. For example, the firm received the first commercial order for its S Series liquid cooled fuel cell system. That could be worth up to £4m, which would certainly help to boost revenue. But I also think it is notable that the customer is engineering giant ABB. If a sophisticated customer like that is paying money for an AFC product, I take it as a good sign for the firm’s commercial potential.

AFC is also leasing systems right now to a variety of clients, notably in the construction sector. If they like what they see when using the systems, I would hope that at least some of those leases could turn into future sales.

My move on AFC Energy shares

I think the sales pipeline is showing more promise. I also like the way AFC is making inroads into large-scale markets, as its deal with ABB shows.

But that is not enough to tempt me to buy the shares for my portfolio any time soon. The business remains heavily loss-making. This brings a risk that it will need to boost liquidity and dilute shareholders, as it has done previously. The firm is sitting on £49m of cash, but growing losses could eat into that heavily.

At the moment, AFC Energy lacks a proven business model. Its path to profitability remains unclear. Therefore I will not be buying any shares.

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