However, Chair Jim Mellon clearly sees value at 6p per share. According to my data provider, he has spent £168,488 in total scooping up shares on two separate occasions in February. This was the first significant insider buying activity in a year.

Clearly, Mellon is bullish then. Should I follow him and add a few shares to my own portfolio?

Solid progress

As a quick recap, Agronomics is a venture capital company with a £71m market cap focused on the nascent field of cellular agriculture. Often called ‘clean meat’, it’s where meat and fish are grown from cells rather than killed for consumption.

Beyond the ethical benefits, this technology makes it “possible to grow meat quickly, cleanly and locally, without the need for imports“. Food chain security is becoming more important for nations, as is concern over the destruction of rainforests for animal agriculture.

The firm has stakes in 20+ start-ups, hoping a handful of them find commercial success and drive big shareholder gains. As the share price tells us though, this hasn’t really happened. At least not yet.

Earlier this month, Agronomics published its results for the six months ending 31 December. The company achieved a £10m net profit during the period, a reversal from a £6.5m loss the year before.

Net asset value (NAV) per share increased by 11.7% to 13.78p, up from 12.34p in June 2025. Strong performance was driven by unrealised gains in key holdings, including Liberation Bioindustries (£4.1m) and Blue Nalu (£4m), following successful funding rounds.

Holdings

Blue Nalu is a cultivated seafood company that creates products from fish cells. Its initial focus is bluefin tuna, which is one of the world’s most expensive and overfished seafoods.

If the tuna is approved, Blue Nalu says it’s targeting the “premium sushi and fine-dining establishments across the United States, working with chefs, distributors, and strategic partners to provide a consistent, high-quality product with year-round availability”. 

With the global population expected to reach around 9.5bn by 2050, we can’t keep overfishing the oceans. That’s just obviously not sustainable. 

In theory then, this firm has a very large commercial opportunity ahead. As such, it has a 12% weighting in the portfolio, making it the second-largest holding after Liberation Bioindustries.

Top 10 holdings (at 31 December 2025)

Worth a punt?

The biggest risk here, of course, is that none of these start-ups might ever achieve commercial success. One called Meatable fell by the wayside last year, resulting in a £11.9m write down for Agronomics. Others could follow.

Another thing worth mentioning here is that this penny stock is extremely volatile. It can rise and fall 50% in the blink of an eye, so it’s definitely not for the risk-averse.

The shares are currently trading at a 50% discount to NAV. So, in theory, there could be a bargain here, assuming the portfolio progresses well and market sentiment picks up for Agronomics. Mellon loading up is obviously a good sign.

On the other hand, there’s no guarantee the discount will narrow. For me, Agronomics is akin to a roll of the dice. I see safer opportunities elsewhere for my own ISA.

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This extreme level of potential success is why penny shares are so popular despite most failing to live up to expectations. And right now, a growing number of eyes are falling upon Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) and its 6p share price, up from around 4p 12 months ago.

Is this the next big winner for micro-cap investors?

A unique emerging industry

Let’s start with a quick introduction.

Agronomics is not a standard business. It’s actually a publicly traded venture capital investment trust that owns and manages an investment portfolio consisting exclusively of private cellular agriculture companies. These are businesses researching and developing lab-grown meats and other animal proteins, all without needing animals.

This borderline science-fiction technology has yet to enter the mainstream. But with growing concerns about long-term food supply and the environmental impacts of modern-day farming, lab-grown proteins could start making their way onto supermarket shelves in the not-too-distant future.

In fact, one of Agronomics’s flagship investments, Liberation Bioindustries, is currently nearing the completion of a brand new manufacturing facility with a production capacity of 600 to 1,200 tonnes of protein each year – roughly enough to generate an estimated $40m of annual revenue.

As a prominent shareholder in Liberation Bioindustries, that means Agronomics may soon start seeing a significant return on its investment if performance meets expectations.

What’s more, with stock trading at close to a 56% discount to the combined net asset value (NAV) of all its investments, Agronomics may soon see its share price surge even higher!

What could go wrong?

Even with commercial production starting to emerge from its investment portfolio, Agronomics remains a hugely speculative investment in 2026, more so than most penny stocks.

Why? Because the market for bioengineered proteins remains largely unproven. And while a massive discount to NAV may seem like it provides a margin of safety, it’s important to recognise that private valuations are notoriously unreliable and volatile.

A perfect example of this unproven commercialisation and NAV risk is the Agronomics investment in Meatable. Despite previously being valued at £11.9m, Meatable ultimately failed, and its value collapsed to zero, with Agronomics losing its entire £7.9m of previously invested capital.

With most of the companies in the portfolio being start-up enterprises, more failures like this will no doubt emerge. And if a flagship project like Liberation Bioindustries fails, the entire investment thesis could collapse.

The bottom line

Today, Agronomics presents a unique opportunity for investors to diversify into the nascent cellular agricultural industry. If this sector evolves into a key player of food supply chains, the rewards could be immense. If it fails, investors will likely be left with nothing.

Needless to say, this binary outcome means buying this penny share is extremely risky. And as someone who invests rather than speculates, this isn’t a micro-cap I’m rushing to buy right now. Instead, I’ve spotted some far more promising micro-cap opportunities with much more attractive risk-to-reward ratios.

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That’s better than many well-known UK stocks like Tesco (up 16%) and Greggs (down 23%).

But why am I comparing an obscure penny share with household names like Tesco and Greggs?

Food production innovation

It’s down to food, basically. Agronomics is a venture capital company with stakes in start-ups in the nascent cellular agriculture space. This technology can create meat and products like eggs and dairy directly from animal cells. It’s like brewing food, not farming it.

But what’s wrong with modern agriculture? Agronomics says its “dependence on complex, fragile supply chains leave the system exposed to geopolitical tensions, zoonotic diseases, and climate change, resulting in widespread instability and inefficiency“.

For example, wheat prices jumped by 40% in 2022, according to the firm. And in the 12 months to December 2024, retail egg prices surged by 65%. I know I’m paying a lot more now for a carton of eggs (when they’re even available).

Instead of raising and slaughtering livestock, cell culture technology makes it possible to grow meat quickly and cleanly, without needing imports. Agronomics is invested in firms making cell-cultivated beef, pork, chicken, and seafood, as well as one building commercial-scale fermentation facilities (where programmed microorganisms produce specific proteins). 

Agronomics estimates that the cultivated meat market will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.5% by 2030, reaching $2.6bn. However, the precision fermentation could grow even more rapidly, reaching $34.2bn by 2031, representing a 40% CAGR.

Meaty write-off

Now, it’s very important to recognise that this is a high-risk penny stock. Not only is this technology still in the early stages of commercialisation, but there’s no guarantee that Agronomics has backed the right horses.

We saw evidence of this risk in an update from the company yesterday (9 February). It has written off its entire investment in Meatable, a Dutch cultivated meat start-up that failed to secure more funding. This stake was previously carried at a valuation of £11.9m.

There were also unrealised fair value losses on other holdings, including Solar Foods (£1.2m) and Bond Pets (loss of £0.7m). As a result, Agronomics’ calculated net asset value (NAV) per share at the end of 2025 was 13.78p, down 5.9% from 30 September.

The firm’s market cap today is £68m. This indicates that the company is trading at roughly a 54% discount to NAV (including £2.1m in cash).

Jim Mellon, Executive Chair of Agronomics, commented: “The fourth quarter of the year was a reminder that progress in clean food does not move in a straight line. While parts of the sector continue to face real pressure, we also saw evidence that the companies best positioned to scale are beginning to separate themselves.“

Challenging conditions

One share currently costs 6.3p. So a £1k investment would buy about 15,900 shares, ignoring trading commissions.

Personally, I wouldn’t invest a grand here because Mellon describes current market conditions as “challenging“. Perhaps more portfolio holdings will go bust?

While the 12-month performance has been good, Agronomics is down 65% over five years. Far worse than Tesco and Greggs.

Therefore, adventurous investors should know what they’re getting into when they consider this high-risk, high-reward penny stock.

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As I type, this intriguing small-cap is trading for 6p per share, which means it’s up roughly 70% year to date and outperforming Nvidia.

Yet 6p is a far cry from the 35p Agronomics hit back in 2021. So, might it still be worth considering for 2026 and beyond?

Agro…what?

Agronomics is a company that invests in start-ups developing technologies with the potential to displace animal husbandry. In other words, firms that are growing animal proteins and animals-derived products (beef, chicken, fish, leather, palm oil, etc) without the need to raise and slaughter animals or destroy forests.

To be clear then, this isn’t a portfolio full of plant-based food brands (similar to Beyond Meat). They’re producing actual meat, grown directly from animal cells rather than made from plants.

As well as lab-grown fish and meat, Agronomics is also invested in precision fermentation and other biomanufacturing-enabling technologies. So its focus is across three core areas.

Portfolio progress

We are on the cusp of the deepest, fastest, most consequential disruption in food and agricultural production since the first domestication of plants and animals ten thousand years ago. Agronomics.

Given they’re still in the early stages of commercialisation, most of the holdings will sound unfamiliar. We have start-ups including BlueNalu (cultivated seafood), SuperMeat (cultivated chicken), and Liberation Labs (contract manufacturer for precision fermentation).

However, some are making notable progress. In September, Clean Food Group received approval for its clean oil product to be used as a cosmetic ingredient in the UK, US, and Europe.

In October, Geltor received a ‘No Questions’ letter from the FDA related to its PrimaColl ingredient (the world’s first bio-designed vegan collagen polypeptide).

Then in November, SuperMeat announced a major cost-efficiency breakthrough. It produced 100% cultivated chicken (85% muscle, 15% fat) at approximately $11.79 per pound at scale. This matched the cost of premium pasture-raised chicken in the US.

Unfortunately, another holding (Meatable) was recently dissolved, taking Agronomics’ carrying value of £11.9m down with it. This highlights how this stock is in the high-risk category.

Nevertheless, the global commercial opportunity for clean meat remains substantial.

Not situatable for all investors

But will consumers baulk at this technology? Will they start scanning the back of the pizza box in supermarkets to make sure the meat toppings were reared on a farm and not cultivated? I suspect not, but we don’t know.

Another uncertainty I have is whether Agronomics will be too quick to cash in on its winners. Take Liberation Labs. It could one day float on the Nasdaq at a much higher valuation, validating Agronomics’ strategy. 

It might exit the position, netting shareholders a few million in the process. Fine. But what if Liberation Labs then goes on to become a global giant – the precision fermentation equivalent of TSMC in semiconductors? How much money would then be left on the table?

Spotting an opportunity is one thing. But selling at the wrong time could reduce shareholder returns.

On balance though, I think Agronomics is worth thinking about as a high-risk, high-reward penny stock. At 6p, it’s trading at a significant discount to the portfolio’s most recent net asset value.

But it’s only suitable for very adventurous investors.

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This makes acquiring penny shares somewhat of a gamble, in my view. And when the odds are this low, it makes sense to act prudently and not bet the farm.

That said, Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) is an interesting penny stock. Priced at 7p, it’s up 100% year to date but remains 78% below its 2021 level of 35p.

Could this be one of those rare hidden-gem penny stocks? I asked ChatGPT for its input.

The company

First though, some info on Agronomics. It’s a venture capital company that has backed around 20 start-ups in the field of cellular agriculture. This is meat and animal-derived products like eggs or dairy grown from cells in bioreactors rather than live animals.

But why do this? I mean, humans have been rearing livestock for over 10,000 years. Well, benefits of clean/cultivated meat include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, overfishing, animal cruelty, and antibiotic resistance.

The world will need a 60% increase in food production by 2050 to feed a growing population, according to the United Nations. By growing real animal meat from cells, this industry could drastically increase food production while reducing the environmental burden.

The portfolio

None of Agronomics’ 20+ portfolio companies is publicly listed and many are pre-commercial. Obviously this makes the stock high risk.

Top 10 holdings (as of May 2025)

However, some start-ups are making great operational progress. For example, the UK’s Meatly became the world’s first company to supply lab-grown pet food earlier this year. Its ‘Chick Bites’ dog treats are in Pets at Home.

Meatly has been raising money, and it might have commercial success. After all, dogs are less fussy when it comes to wolfing down lab-grown meat, while more owners are feeding their furry darlings healthier food. Also, the regulatory pathway is less stringent.

Elsewhere, EVERY recently announced a successful $55m financing round. It produces egg proteins using precision fermentation, and its products will soon be featured at Walmart.

The massive $270bn global egg market has suffered from shortages and price volatility. So EVERY’s commercial opportunity appears substantial.  

Finally, BlueNalu expanded a deal with Birds Eye owner Nomad Foods in August to support the commercialisation of its cell-cultivated seafood.

Hidden gem?

Of course, widespread consumer adoption of lab-grown food might never happen. As Meatly CEO Owen Ensor told AgFunder News: “If you look at any food trend, it’s not ChatGPT, it’s not going to reach half the population in two years. But I do think the tide is turning.”

Speaking of ChatGPT, what did it say about Agronomics? It reckons the stock could be a hidden gem if a “portfolio company achieves large commercial scale“. However, it cautioned that mass-market adoption is “miles away“.

ChatGPT doesn’t give examples of which companies might skyrocket in value (it’s generally light on details, unfortunately). But personally I think BlueNalu, which makes up around 9% of Agronomics’ portfolio, is very interesting given the Birds Eye tie-up.

With Agronomics stock trading some 50% below its last reported net asset value of £145.3m, I think it’s worth considering as a small position for adventurous investors.

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But Carclo (LSE: CAR) is beating it in style, with a cracking 197% rise year to date. Let’s take a closer look.

Time for growth?

Both these stocks have seen better times in the past. But as with penny shares in general, a low valuation usually tends to be the result of a previously popular stock going through a tough spell. And for each of these two, I see a good case for a renewed growth phase in the next few years.

Agronomics is a venture capital firm that invests in environmentally-friendly alternatives to current food production methods. Fermentation, cell culture growth… those are the kinds of things we’re talking about.

That business has been in the news recently after shares in US-based Beyond Meat soared 450% in a week. At one stage, they were up more than 1,000% before falling back. In that case, it was triggered by ‘meme-stock’ investors who were pumped by traders on a Reddit forum.

A meme-stock spike like that doesn’t usually last long. But it does highlight an underlying interest in alternative food technology.

Profits on the menu?

Agronomics posted a loss in 2024. But the company had £141m in invested assets at the interim stage this year — more than twice the current market cap. And there was £10m in cash and equivalents on the books.

Chair James Mellon spoke of “significant technological and commercial progress, with many of our more mature assets achieving some of the largest financing rounds in the sector“.

I can’t find any earnings forecasts for the company right now. But there’s one analyst recommending the stock with a 14.9p price target — more than double the 7p at the time of writing.

Plastic, fantastic

Carclo, meanwhile, makes plastics — but they’re no ordinary plastics. No, we’re talking about materials used in medical devices, telecoms, aerospace, and for other high-tech needs.

So what happened in 2025? The company turned a reported loss of £3.4m last year into a profit. At £0.9m it’s still only a small profit. But it came from £16.4m in underlying EBITDA. And the results included £19.1m in operational cash generation.

Looking forward, the board said it expects “to continue this positive trajectory through FY26 with continued margin expansion and positive cash generation“.

This sounds like it might be quite exciting, but I see one clear caution. This is a small company in a niche market. And I’m really not sure what the risks from competition are like. It makes me want to dig a bit deeper into whatever defensive characteristics the business might have.

Two for the portfolio?

Investing in very small, high-tech companies at penny-share prices is always a risk. And there’s extra danger when we really haven’t seen a reliable long-term income stream developing.

But I can see attractions for growth investors here who expect some risk. As a small part of a diversified growth portfolio, I think both of these are worth seriously considering.

The post These penny shares are crushing the market in 2025, but they might still be cheap! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

A perfect example of this from 1994 is Games Workshop.

The niche tabletop wargaming enterprise joined the London Stock Exchange as a penny stock with a market cap of roughly £40m. Today, the company is worth £4.8bn, generating a 12,285% share price return. And shareholders who reinvested dividends along the way unlock an even more staggering 45,020% total gain.

Just to put this into perspective, a £10,000 initial investment is now worth just over £4.5m!

It goes to show the sort of life-changing gains investors can earn if they find winning businesses early on. And at 6.3p, I think Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) could be the next Games Workshop.

Millionaire-making potential

Agronomics is quite a unique business, operating in a new and emerging industry – cellular agriculture. The firm has invested in a diverse portfolio of 20 young bioengineering companies seeking to manufacture meat, protein, seafood, and dairy products, all within a lab.

That certainly sounds like science fiction. And there’s no denying that convincing the general public to load their shopping cart with lab-grown products will not be an easy task. However, over the next few decades, the cultivated meat market could secure a spot as a leading sector.

With the global population rising, the United Nations has estimated that global food production will need to climb by 60% by 2050 to meet demand. Yet with limited land and water, alongside concerns of global warming, traditional farming alone could struggle to keep up.

As such, Agronomics has projected that by as early as 2040, the cellular agriculture market could be a $200bn industry. And compared to the group’s current £64m market cap, that definitely presents some millionaire-making growth potential.

What to watch

While exciting, investors must consider many other factors beyond growth potential. Digging deeper into the group’s portfolio of early-stage enterprises, most are pre-revenue and could stay that way for many more years to come.

As a result of this lack of reliable cash flow, Agronomics has had to continuously raise capital by issuing shares. And for investors, that’s translated into some considerable dilution. In fact, the number of shares outstanding has almost tripled in the last five years, from around 333m in 2020 to just over a billion today.

That’s certainly not unusual for a penny stock. And if it delivers on its growth expectations, this may ultimately not matter. But right now that’s a big ‘if’.

Cellular agriculture remains a highly experimental industry with enormous technological, regulatory, commercial, and execution risks. Needless to say, that’s quite a lot of points of potential failure. And if another more promising farming solution emerges, investors today could be left with nothing.

The bottom line

Agronomics shares appear to offer investors a diversified way to invest in the brand-new food biotech industry. But in my opinion, it’s far too early to know whether this sector will deliver on its promised revolution. Right now, the risk is just too high. Instead, while I’m keeping this penny stock on my watch list, I’m more interested in other micro-cap opportunities.

The post At 6.3p, could this penny stock be a millionaire-maker? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

In reality though, successful penny stocks are rare beasts, and this type of eye-popping return is rarer still. But for investors with a high risk tolerance, it may be worth digging into businesses operating in growth markets with untapped future potential.

Cellular agriculture

Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) certainly falls into this category. It’s a venture capital company focused on the nascent fields of cellular agriculture and precision fermentation.

This area is often called ‘clean food’ or ‘cultivated meat’, as it involves growing animal products directly from cells instead of raising whole animals.

So far, Agronomics has invested in more than 20 start-ups. These include SuperMeat (cultivated chicken), BlueNalu (cultivated seafood), Meatable (cultivated pork and beef), and VitroLabs (cultivated leather).

Of course, these names will be obscure to most investors, as they’re still largely early-stage. However, some are starting to commercialise their products and services.

Last month, for example, portfolio holding Clean Food Group received regulatory approval for its CLEAN Oil 25 to be used as a cosmetic ingredient in the UK, US, and Europe. Clean Foods manufactures sustainable oils and fats through fermentation.

Developed in collaboration with THG LABS and Croda International, this breakthrough product is a sustainable alternative to conventional oil ingredients in the skincare, haircare, and wider personal care categories (all massive markets).

Palm oil is used in around 70% of cosmetic products, and it remains one of the leading drivers of tropical deforestation. For decades, the beauty industry has faced a difficult challenge, aware of the damage caused by palm oil, but unable to replace it due to its unique properties. Today, that changes with this new regulatory approval.

Jim Mellon, Executive Chair of Agronomics.

Big discount

Significant commercial progress like this should start to drive portfolio returns. To date, Agronomics has invested a total of £1.6m into Clean Food Group. Subject to audit, the firm says this is currently carried at £6.9m, representing a significant uplift.

The position represents around 4.8% of Agronomics’ last stated net asset value (NAV), as calculated in June. That was 14.4p per share, which suggests the shares at just under 7p are trading at more than a 50% discount to NAV.

Higher broker forecast

It goes without saying that this stock is very much in the high-risk, high-reward camp. There’s no guarantee these start-ups will ever find commercial success, while a consumer backlash against lab-grown food could torpedo investor sentiment (and funding) for the sector.

Also, while NAV gives a rough idea of value, calculating it is hardly an exact science. Agronomics’ holdings are all private, so their valuations only get updated periodically.

Nevertheless, this steep discount to NAV likely underpins the stock’s far higher broker price targets. The two analysts covering Agronomics currently have a median 12-month target of 14.9p. 

That’s a whopping 113% above the current share price!

According to Agronomics, precision fermentation, biomass fermentation, and cultivated meat technologies represent a $200bn+ market opportunity by 2040.

Agronomics gives investors rare exposure to the ground floor of a potentially transformative industry. For those with a stomach for high risk and volatility, I think this 7p penny stock is well worth checking out.

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Yet, despite these robust gains, many penny shares still look brilliantly cheap at current prices. Here are three I think demand particularly serious consideration today.

Alternative Income REIT

Alternative Income REIT (LSE:AIRE) is an outlier in the broader penny stock complex. Rather than growth, its focus is on delivering strong and sustainable passive income to investors.

Its exceptional value still warrants a close look from small-cap investors, though. The real estate investment trust (REIT) trades at a 15% discount to its net asset value (NAV) per share.

Continuing the dividend income theme, the trust’s forward dividend yield is an enormous 8.6%.

Alternative Income’s share price has flatlined in 2025 due to growing pessimism over future interest rate cuts. Higher rates create more pressure given the REIT’s high debt levels.

Yet, I think this is more than baked into the trust’s low valuation. I like its diversification across sectors including retail, residential, and healthcare helps reduce risk. It also has tenants tied down on long contracts, further insulating it against tough economic conditions.

As of June, the REIT’s leases had an average remaining term of 15.6 years to the earliest break and expiry date.

Everyman Media Group

Cinema operator Everyman Media Group (LSE:EMAN) has dropped 22% in value in the year to date. This reflects concerns over UK consumer spending power, combined with particular uncertainty over the cinema industry as viewing habits change.

These worries merit serious attention, but so does the showstopping value that Everyman shares now offer. The leisure giant trades on an enterprise value (EV) to revenues ratio of just 0.4. Meanwhile, its EV to EBITDA ratio is a modest 2.8 times.

I think this penny share’s well placed to weather sector problems and grow long-term profits. It offers more than the bog-standard multiplex cinema, with its sites also incorporating bars and restaurants to encourage people from their sofas. This gives it added scope to grow revenues and sustain itself in the streaming age.

Agronomics

Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) has been one of the best-performing penny shares in the year to date. The company invests in more than 20 early-stage businesses that make food and clothing from animal and plant cells.

It’s risen almost two-thirds in value so far in 2025. And yet it still trades at a 57% discount to its NAV per share.

Investing in smaller companies allows Agronomics to seize early mover opportunities. Major holdings here include lab-grown chicken manufacturer SuperMeat and plant-based meat producer LiveKindly.

On the downside, this also increases risk. Acquisitions can throw up nasty surprises that erode shareholder value. However, I think the potential long-term rewards of its strategy may outweigh these dangers. Agronomics reckons its market could be worth more than £200bn by 2040 as phenomena like climate change and ethical awareness drive growth.

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But co‑founder and executive chairman Jim Mellon reckons the uber-disruptive industry that the company’s involved in could become a money fountain. So should I load up on this penny stock at 7p? Let’s explore.

Agro… what?

Agronomics is a leading investment company in the field of cellular agriculture. This involves growing meat, milk, and other products from cells instead of farming animals.

How’s that possible? Scientists take a small sample of animal cells (say, cow muscle) and grow them in a nutrient-rich environment like a bioreactor. The cells then multiply into muscle tissue. 

The result? Real meat, but without raising and slaughtering animals. 

Moreover, this method requires significantly less land and water, and can greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with animal waste. Lab-grown seafood also helps alleviate overfishing.

Traditional meat production carries a risk of contamination from bacteria like E. coli and involves the widespread use of antibiotics. By contrast, clean meat (as lab-grown meat’s often called) avoids these risks and can be produced without antibiotics.

Venture capital

Agronomics has screened over 400 start-ups, whittling this down to around 20 of the most promising. Top holdings include Liberation Labs (precision fermentation), SuperMeat (lab-grown chicken), BlueNalu (cultivated seafood), and Meatable (lab-grown pork).

Earlier this week, Meatable acquired the UK’s Uncommon Bio. CEO Jeff Tripician said: “This [acquisition] enables us to support the meat industry with a stable, secure, and future-proof supply of species like pork, beef, lamb, and poultry.”

In June, Agronomics calculated its net asset value per share at 14.40p. With the stock currently at 7.5p, this suggests a massive discount to the underlying value.

High-risk stock

However, it’s important to understand why this discount might exist. None of the companies have gone public yet and many are early-stage and therefore pre-revenue. There’s no guarantee any of them will ever find commercial success.

Meanwhile, Agronomics will likely need to issue new shares to raise cash for follow-on investments.

Finally, it’s unlikely shoppers in Tesco will soon be throwing a load of cultivated steaks into their trollies. Consumers might treat lab-grown meat with suspicion.

Millionaire potential?

Looking ahead, the United Nations suggests a 60% increase in food production will be needed to feed the world’s population by 2050. As such, Agronomics says the cultivated meat market could be worth $200bn by 2040.

It would only need a handful of portfolio winners to be worth a lot more than its current £75m market-cap. Success could be commercial or its start-ups being acquired by giant food companies.

A massive flow of capital is anticipated to enter the sector in the coming decade led by the necessity to improve supply chain resilience price stability and nation-states seeking food security.

Agronomics.

Of course, whether the stock becomes a millionaire-maker depends on how much is invested. If Agronomics regained its mid-2021 high of 35p, the return would be nearly 400%. That’s great, but not get-rich stuff.

However, adventurous investors might consider including this intriguing penny stock as a small part of a diversified portfolio.

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