Analysts watching the stock expect the share price to soar in the coming year. Currently trading at around 79p per share, the average 12-month price target is 206p — a 158% increase.

But don’t trust broker forecasts alone — they can be overly-optimistic! I always take a closer look before considering any stock.

So what is Bango, and what does it do?

An all-in-one subscription engine

Rather than litter the Internet with more AI slop, Bango is offering a genuinely useful product: an AI-enhanced subscription bundling platform.

Its core product, the Digital Vending Machine, helps businesses bundle services like Netflix, Amazon, and Xbox into simple offers on their platform, helping end users sign up and pay in one click.

I recognise the model (and its effectiveness) because I’ve used it myself and find it attractive as a value-added feature.

So how exactly does that work, and will it gain momentum?

Selling simplicity

The core attraction of this model is how it appeals to a desire for simplicity in an increasingly complex world. Keeping track of individual subsriptions can be a headache, so having them all in one place sounds great!

Under the bonnet, Bango handles the payment plumbing: things like carrier billing and other digital payment methods. On top, it runs its ‘Digital Vending Machine’ (DVM), which is basically a catalogue and management system for lots of different subscription offers in one place.

It also monetises data from this activity, selling insights and audience segments that help its partners target marketing and improve take‑up of these digital services.

And it’s working — in 2025, it secured a record 12 new customers, up from nine the previous year. The DVM, its core product, has been adopted by seven out of eight major US telecom providers, plus providers in Japan, South Korea, Turkey and South Africa.

But what do the numbers say – does it scream the next big UK tech story, or is it destined to be another forgotten AI dream?

Financial fortitude

Like most tech-focused penny stocks, the company is yet to turn a profit. But not for lack of trying — overall, things are improving, with earnings are up 70% year on year

Although it posted a loss of £2.86m in 2024, this was an improvement on -£7m in 2023. Plus, revenue has grown exponentially from £12.1m in 2020 to £42.2m today.

Like most start-ups, it’s funnelling cash back into the business. The balance sheet is tight with modest net debt and weak liquidity, and the valuation still assumes decent growth.

But if its strategy pays off and it gains a foothold, things could really take off. So is it worth considering?

Weighing risk vs reward

Bango is a classic high‑risk play with lots of growth potential — if it can execute effectively. It could be the next big thing in the UK’s growing tech market. If not, it could be edged out by a more aggressive competitor.

For those comfortable with that risk (and limited earnings visibility), a small allocation is worth considering. As always, ensure to reduce risk by balancing out with some big-name FTSE 100 defensive stocks.

The post Hunting AI growth stocks to buy? Consider this UK tech start-up tipped to fly in 2026! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Details of the firm

With a market-cap of £72m and a share price of £95p, Bango (LSE:BGO) just sneaks in as a penny stock. It’s a tech company specialising in payment and data monetisation solutions. This sounds rather fancy, but the reality is that it provides a platform for bundling multiple digital services into a single payment.

This main product is known as the Digital Vending Machine, allowing businesses to bundle their products together. It has some large clients on the books, including Netflix, Disney and Amazon.

Bango makes money by charging a small fee on each transaction, as well as selling anonymised payment data to marketers and app developers. In the H1 2024 report, it showed financial progress. Revenue was up 19% versus the same period in 2023. It posted an adjusted EBITDA of £3.2m, up from the loss of £0.16m.

The share price fall

All of this sounds great, with a good idea and big clients. Yet the share price is down 52% over the past year. This is why some have flagged it as a potentially cheap stock.

One of the reasons for the fall came early in 2024 when the full-year results for 2023 showed a large increase in the loss after tax. It grew to £7m, larger than the £1.68m loss from the previous year. This was blamed on higher administration costs due to company acquisitions, as well as a negative impact from foreign exchange movements.

Another concern is cash flow. The business entered 2024 with a negative cash position of £3.12m, which isn’t good. The CEO commented in the summer that they “remain on track to return to a positive net cash position in FY25”.

Finally, let’s not forget that this is a penny stock. Large share price swings have to be expected due to the nature of the low transaction volume and the fact the market-cap’s small.

A potential cheap pick

The annual report noted that “the subscriptions market is estimated to reach $600bn by 2026”. There’s a large and growing market for this area, which Bango’s well placed to take advantage of.

Therefore, some might flag this as a cheap stock based on the future potential revenue based on the market size.

The fall in the share price is another reason why some might consider the stock to be very cheap. Yet even though some might think it’s undervalued, it does require some caution. The combination of losing money and cash flow problems is a worry, especially with a small company. Therefore, I believe it’s a high-reward but high-risk idea to consider.

The post This tech penny stock could be the next big thing. Why is it so cheap? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

But sometimes it gives rise to company valuations that appear to be divorced from reality. To illustrate this point, I’ve found two examples.

Onwards and upwards

Time Finance (LSE:TIME) is a specialist lender to over 10,000 small businesses in the UK.

Since its IPO in August 2006, it’s expanded both through acquisition and organically. At 31 August 2024, it had a loan book of £205m. In May 2021, the directors set a four-year lending target of £230m. It looks to me as though it’s going to achieve this goal comfortably ahead of schedule.

The company’s results for the year ended 31 May 2024 (FY24) disclosed revenue of £33.2m (FY23: £27.6m) and a profit before tax of £5.9m (FY23: 4.2m).

All this positive news has helped its share price increase by 98% since November 2023.

And with a book value of £66m and a current (6 November) stock market valuation of £55m, there’s a case to be made for suggesting that its shares are undervalued.

But its stock is currently trading on a historic price-to-earnings ratio of 15.5, which is higher than all of the FTSE 100‘s banks.

All over the place

In contrast, the share price of Bango (LSE:BGO) has fallen 39% over the past year.

It helps telecoms companies and content providers retain customers through the bundling of subscriptions. It has a blue-chip customer list in a global subscriptions market that could, by 2026, be worth $600bn.

But its share price can fluctuate wildly.

For example, the value of its stock crashed 40% on 17 January when it issued a trading update. The company warned of delays in securing new contracts and identified $2m of unexpected costs.

On 8 April, it presented its results for the year ended 31 December 2023 (FY23). Despite the $6.7m increase in post-tax losses, its shares went up 13.5%. The 62% growth in revenue is the only explanation I can come up with for this apparently perverse market reaction.

And inexplicably, on 30 July, its share price tanked 12% after it added Nord Security’s products to its so-called digital vending machine.

No thanks!

But despite their growth potential, I don’t want to invest in either of these stocks.

They’re too risky for me and have characteristics typical of AIM shares that has historically put me off investing in smaller companies.

The rise in the share price of Time Finance appears to be divorced from its underlying performance. It now attracts a higher earnings multiple than, for example, Lloyds Banking Group.

And loss-making Bango has a valuation that’s 46% higher than Time’s.

Its stock price is also highly erratic. The combination of relatively few shares in issue and a small market cap, means a trade of a few thousand pounds can have a dramatic impact on its stock market valuation.

I’m not saying they’re bad companies. Their AIM listing has played an important part in fuelling their impressive growth. But I prefer to buy larger companies — with more sensible valuations — and ones whose share prices tend to be more predictable.

The post 2 FTSE stocks that demonstrate the best (and worst) of the AIM market appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Fast forward to 8 April and it was a very different story. The stock rose 13.5% after the company’s results for the year ended 31 December 2023 were unveiled. In 2023, Bango reported a 62% increase in revenue compared to a year earlier.

Not all good news

But it’s still not profitable. Its 2023 loss after tax was $8.8m, bringing its total losses to date to $68.3m.

And that’s a typical problem with smaller companies. It’s a fact of business life that if losses persist, the money will eventually run out. At 31 December 2023, Bango had $3.7m of cash on its balance sheet. It also had borrowings of $7.7m. Given that it spent $18.6m during the year supporting its operating and investing activities, it seems likely that it will have to raise money soon.

Previously, a key shareholder provided a loan to support the company’s expansion. And it may do so again. But if it has to turn to shareholders for more cash, those not participating in a rights issue would see their holdings diluted.

Another issue with small companies is that they don’t have the financial firepower to withstand a sustained downturn. And with a market cap of just £92m, Bango could be vulnerable should the unexpected happen.

For these reasons, I don’t what to invest at the moment. But because I think the company has excellent growth prospects I’m going to keep the stock on my watch list.

Let me explain why.

A huge and growing market

Bango helps telecoms companies and content providers acquire and retain more paying customers by bundling subscriptions.

In 2020, its revenue was $15.7m. In 2023, it was three times higher. According to Juniper, the global subscriptions market will be worth $600bn by 2026, with 4.2bn individual subscriptions. But with so many different providers, consumers are likely to become increasingly frustrated. The idea of a one-stop shop makes sense to me.

Importantly, the company has an impressive customer list. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and YouTube are just a few of the household names using its “digital vending machine”. This tells me that the company is good at what it does.

Bango typically charges a one-off integration fee and then earns revenue on a monthly basis. This means it has the potential to generate impressive margins. Contracts are typically of three years duration which gives it good visibility of its cash flows. It also makes money from identifying patterns in consumer behaviour. Data has been described as the most valuable asset in the world.  

But despite the risks of owning shares in a small company, I’m going to keep an eye on Bango’s performance over the coming months. When I can see that the company has a clear path to being cash positive, I’m going to consider investing. That’s because I think ‘super bundling’ is the future.

The post Here’s 1 FTSE share with massive growth potential! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Since coming to market, the shares have gained 33%, but this has been a rocky ride. After reaching a peak of 278p in 2013, the shares fell 85% to just 40p at the beginning of 2016 on weak trading.  Since hitting this low, they have bounced, rising 234% year-to-date as the firm’s outlook has improved. 

Tremendous opportunity 

Bango enables payments for apps and games including Pokemon Go, and earlier this year, the company announced a new payment method for customers of global online retail giant Amazon. Under the terms of the deal, Japanese Amazon customers can pay for physical goods from Amazon.jp by adding the cost of the goods to their mobile phone bill. With the Japanse e-commerce market worth an estimated $100bn a year, this is a tremendous opportunity for the group. 

According to today’s interim results release from the company, these growth initiatives are starting to pay off. 

For the first half, End User Spend jumped 100% to £92.3m, with annualised EUS now over £400m, up more than 140% year-on-year. Off the back of this rising transaction volume, revenue increased 114% to £1.7m and losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation improved slightly from £1.6m to £1m. Cash at the end of the period was £5.6m, which according to management is “sufficient to fund the group through profitability.”

High risk, high reward 

Looking at today’s results, it’s clear that Bango is heading in the right direction, and the company has a tremendous opportunity ahead of it. Nonetheless, Bango is still lossmaking and has a lot to do before its market value of £150m is justifiable.

Put simply, to me it looks as if Bango is a blue-sky company, and while the company may turn out to be the next tech unicorn, the shares remain a high-risk, high-reward investment. 

That’s why I’d ditch the company in favour of Vodafone (LSE: VOD) one of the FTSE 100’s most reliable income plays. 

Out of favour

Vodafone has fallen out of favour with investors over the past year lagging the FTSE 100 by 12% excluding dividends since mid-September last year. 

It seems as if the market is concerned about the telecoms group’s growth potential. Results for the year to March showed a loss of €6.1bn due mainly to a €3.7bn writedown in the value of the Indian business. Overall revenue decreased 4.4% €47.6bn due partly to foreign exchange movements. Organic service revenue expanded 1.9% over the course of the year. 

These figures show that despite the writedowns, Vodafone is making progress. And management is extremely confident about the group’s outlook. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation are expected to expand between 4% and 8% for fiscal 2018, compared to 3.4% for 2017. Free cash flow is projected to hit €5bn up from €4.1bn. 

Free cash flow growth should underpin the firm’s dividend payout. City analysts believe Vodafone will pay a dividend of 13.1p per share to investors for the year ending 31 March 2017, giving a highly attractive dividend yield of 6.3%. On a cash basis, this payout is set to cost the company approximately €4.1bn, easily covered by management’s free cash flow target of €5bn for the year. 

The post Why I’d ditch this super growth stock to buy Vodafone Group plc appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has experienced a difficult month, with its shares falling 16% following a disappointing update on 27th July. A clinical trial of a key lung cancer drug failed to deliver positive results, and investor sentiment is now weaker.

This could present a buying opportunity for the long term. AstraZeneca still has a robust and improving pipeline, which could deliver improving profitability in future years. With a strong balance sheet and resilient cash flow, it could engage in further M&A activity to boost its outlook. A dividend yield of 4.9% and a P/E of 15 suggest it offers value and income appeal right now.

Peter Stephens owns shares in AstraZeneca

Ian Pierce: Equiniti

Equiniti (LSE: EQN) is far from a household name but, as the company provides share registration services for half of the FTSE 100 and manages more than 20 million shareholder accounts, most investors probably use it indirectly. Alongside share registration, the group provides companies with other mission-critical but non-core services such as compliance and risk management software.

The stickiness of these services leads to around 50% of revenue being recurring as well as pricing power that is evident in the company’s 24.2% EBITDA margins posted last year. And with expansion into the US kicking off with a large £176m acquisition, Equiniti’s shares look attractively valued to me at 12 times trailing earnings.  

Ian Pierce has no position in Equiniti. 

Harvey Jones: Tritax Big Box REIT

The specialist property sector is booming, delivering four of the top five fastest-growing investment trust launches of the last five years, according to the Association of Investment Companies.

Tritax Big Box (LSE: BBOX) has grown fastest of all, posting an impressive 979% increase in assets under management since launch in December 2013. So far this real estate investment trust (REIT) has given investors a total return of 64%.

Recent acquisitions include the National Distribution Centre at Trax Park, Doncaster, for £20.9m in May, and the Littlebrook Power Station, Dartford, in July for £65m, where the REIT plans to build one of the largest Big Box logistics parks inside the M25.

The trust yields 5.73% but some may wish to wait until the premium of 14.83 narrows.

Harvey Jones has no position in Tritax Big Box REIT.

Royston Wild: Taylor Wimpey

I reckon Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) should add to the recent collection of confident trading statements from Britain’s housebuilders in August.

Interims are pencilled in for Tuesday August 1st, and I am confident of another perky report following spring’s encouraging update. Private net reservations at Taylor Wimpey jumped 16% during January 1st to April 27th, the company citing “positive customer demand and good mortgage availability,” while its order book increased to 9,219 homes from 8,811 a year earlier.

The stock’s ultra-low valuations certainly leave plenty of scope for a fresh share price spurt. A predicted 2% earnings rise in 2017 creates a forward P/E ratio of just 10.1 times. And a monster 7.1% yield adds extra incentive for investors to pile in.

Royston Wild owns shares in Taylor Wimpey.

Roland Head: Persimmon

FTSE 100 housebuilder Persimmon (LSE: PSN) generated £343m of surplus cash in 2016, comfortably covering its next planned capital return of 110p per share. The firm’s earnings are expected to rise by 12% in 2017, as housing demand remains strong. Sales rose by 12% to £1.66bn during the first half of 2017, during which the group generated another £207m of surplus cash. 

Persimmon shares are now worth double their 2007 high. But a price/free cash flow ratio of 11 and a forecast yield of 5.2% means this stock still looks affordable to me. With interim results due on 22 August, I believe further gains are possible.

Roland does not own shares of Persimmon.

Paul Summers: Bango

I think mobile payment platform provider Bango (LSE: BGO) is a very interesting proposition for risk-tolerant, patient investors. Clients of the £180m cap already include tech giants Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Amazon.

In its most recent update, Bango revealed that annualised end user spend (EUS) at the end of June exceeded £300m a year — over 50% higher than that achieved six months before.  A proportion of this was driven by the launch of Direct Carrier Billing for Amazon in Japan. The company is now firmly on track to hit its target of doubling this figure by December 2017.

While the stock’s already up over 200% in the last 12 months, I think this positive momentum could continue in anticipation of mid-September’s interim results.

Paul Summers has no position in Bango.

Edward Sheldon: WPP

Recent share price weakness in advertising giant WPP (LSE: WPP) has presented an attractive entry point, in my opinion. The shares have slumped from 1,920p to 1,550p over the last five months, on the back of a cautious short-term outlook from the company in March, and both a cyber attack and a downgrade from broker Exane BNP Paribas in June.

However, for those with a long-term mindset, I believe the share price drop has created an opportunity. Earnings per share are forecast to rise 11% this year to 126p, meaning that at the current share price, WPP now trades on a forward looking P/E ratio of just 12.3. Furthermore, the stock now looks particularly attractive from a dividend investing point of view, with the forward looking dividend yield currently above 4%.

Edward Sheldon owns shares in WPP.

Rupert Hargreaves: Vesuvius

Molten metal flow engineering might not sound like the most exciting business around, but it’s a highly lucrative business for Vesuvius (LSE: VSVS). After several years of stagnant growth, City analysts are expecting the firm to report earnings per share growth of 20% this year, followed by growth of 12% for 2018. Results from the company at the end of July confirmed that it is on track to hit this target thanks to a buoyant global steel market.

Based on City growth projections, shares in Vesuvius look undervalued, trading at a forward P/E of 16.5 and PEG ratio of 0.8. As well as offering growth at a reasonable price, Vesuvius supports a dividend yield of 2.9%, and the payout is covered twice by earnings per share.

Rupert does not own shares in Vesuvius. 

Bilaal Mohamed: Crest Nicholson

My top stock for August is residential property developer Crest Nicholson (LSE: CRST). The Surrey-based housebuilder remains committed to increasing its shareholder rewards, with dividends swelling from just 6.5p per share in 2013 to last year’s huge full-year payout of 27.6p. City analysts are expecting this year’s payouts to go even further, with consensus estimates suggesting a total dividend of 34.03p per share for the full year, resulting in a massive prospective yield of 6.3%.

In recent months the FTSE 250-listed business has seen its share price retreat from May’s all-time highs of 636.5p, but I believe this is just a temporary retracement, and expect to see a continuation of the upward surge that has led to the shares doubling in value in less than five years. With earnings predicted to rise by 21% by the end of fiscal 2018, I believe a P/E rating of eight is simply far too cheap for this rapidly growing business.

Bilaal has no position in any shares mentioned.

Alan Oscroft: Unilever

For years I’ve been eschewing Unilever (LSE: ULVR) shares as perpetually overpriced, with dividend yields in the 3-4% range not really looking good enough to offset P/E multiples of around 20.

But looking back over the company recently, it’s struck me that I’ve been a chump all that time. Over five years, the share price has risen by 87% (on top of those healthy dividends), and that’s trounced the FTSE 100. And over 10 years, we’re looking at a 180% gain (compared to the FTSE’s meagre 18%), and a climb of 1,300% since 1988.

Next time you sip Lipton tea, refresh yourself with Dove soap, or pour Persil into your washing machine, think about how many millions around the world are doing exactly the same thing. 

Will I be reconsidering Unilever when I next evaluate my SIPP and ISA investments? You bet I will.

Alan Oscroft does not own shares in Unilever.

G A Chester: Randgold Resources
 
Gold stocks can thrive when uncertainty or fear sends other equities tumbling. Having exposure to the sector can mitigate a portfolio’s plunge into the red. There’s also potential to take profit on the soaring gold stock and recycle it into bashed-up bargains.
 
Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) is a good choice for gold exposure, in my view. It’s the sector heavyweight and, unlike the metal itself and many smaller miners, offers a handy 2% dividend yield. As the shares are well below last year’s post-Brexit-vote high of over £90, I think now could be a good time to buy a few.
 
G A Chester has no position in Randgold Resources.

Jack Tang: Persimmon

Shares in housebuilder Persimmon (LSE: PSN) have done exceptionally well in the last few months and, in my view, they could still be a great addition for investors looking for growth at a reasonable price.

Its last trading update was very encouraging, as the company reported continued growth in completion volumes and a steady improvement in average selling prices. Revenue in the first-half grew by 12% to reach £1.66bn, with the housebuilder set to release more details on its first-half performance on 22 August.

Despite a year-to-date gain of 41%, shares in Persimmon are valued at just 10.8 times expected earnings this year.

Jack Tang has no position in Persimmon.

The post Top stocks for August appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Bango (LSE: BGO) might have a memorable name, but its share price performance over the past few years is something I’m sure many would like to forget. From a peak of 299p in March 2013, Bango shares have crashed by 69% to today’s 88.5p, and that includes a 5% fall on the day the firm released first-half results.

Mobile payments companies can be very profitable, but the problem at Bango seems to be that it’s not making any profit yet while some of its competitors are, and that will surely raise fears that it’s not going to end up as one of the winners in the race.

Today’s news was a bit mixed. In the first half of the year, end user spend was up 150% on the same period last year, to £46.17m, and a 39% rise in gross profit took that to £0.85m. Cash is perhaps a bit tight at £7.24m, and investors might be concerned to see it having fallen from £12.13m at 31 December 2015 — though the company seems happy that there’s enough to keep it going until it achieves profitability.

But broker Peel Hunt has apparently downgraded its stance on Bango and has a £1 price target on the shares. I think that might be a little harsh. After all, Bango handles payments for mobile apps including Pokemon Go, and that didn’t launch until after the reported period. With a market cap of £57m, Bango could be a small-cap with a big future.

A sweeter future?

With a market cap of around £530m, PureCircle (LSE: PURE) is a bigger company, but its share price performance has also been unimpressive — it’s down 50% in just over two years, to 310p, after a 6% drop today following the release of full-year results.

The maker of stevia products reported a 9% rise in sales to $138.6m, with operating profit up 90% to $32.4m. Earnings per share more than trebled to 8.49 cents, though net debt rose in the period to $52.9m. So why the share price fall?

Sales in the second half were lower than expected, due to delays in some launches and to actions by US Customs and Border Protection (who detained a number of shipments based on, apparently inaccurate, suspicions of the use of forced labour). With recent regulatory approvals for stevia products coming from India and Brazil, barriers to sales appear to be falling — and chief executive Magomet Malsagov reckons that: “Prospects for the business over the next 4 to 5 years are strong, and we are confident that as our sales continue to increase, we will report improved profitability.”

PureCircle is forecast to record a further 165% rise in EPS in the year to June 2017, and with markets for natural calorie-free sweeteners potentially huge in these increasingly obese days, a forward P/E of 19 (and a PEG of just 0.1) looks cheap to me. There’ll be volatility ahead for sure, but I can see PureCircle turning into a nice little investment.

The post Why are these small-cap shares plunging today? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Bango has paid £2.4m in cash and shares to acquire BilltoMobile, a US service that provides carrier billing similar to that offered by Bango. BilltoMobile has relationships with all four of the major US mobile network operators, and processed £55m of annual billing last year.

Carrier billing means that customers can make purchases online and have them charged to their mobile bill. Bango believes this is an area with a lot of growth potential. The only problem is that neither Bango nor BilltoMobile actually makes any money at the moment. Bango reported a post-tax loss of £4.8m on turnover of £3.2m last year; BilltoMobile made a loss of £590,000 last year.

Operating costs should stay flat

Bango says that it can handle all of BilltoMobile’s current billing through its existing infrastructure, so operating costs should stay flat despite the firm handling a higher level of processing. Bango expects BilltoMobile to make “a significant contribution” to Bango’s performance, but stopped short of saying that the deal would enable Bango to make a profit.

On that basis, it’s fair to assume that Bango will remain lossmaking for the foreseeable future. Indeed, despite Bango’s optimistic projections for billing growth, the firm’s own house broker expects a loss of £5.3m for 2016 and £4.1m in 2017.

The figures may improve slightly following this acquisition, but I’m not sure this will be enough. Bango’s net cash balance was £12.1m at the end of last year. Today’s acquisition takes it down below £10m. Cash outflows for the last two years have been about £4.2m per year. If this performance continues, Bango could be out of cash by the end of 2017.

In my view, today’s gains are more of a selling opportunity than a ‘buy’ signal.

The market trusts this dividend

In contrast to struggling Bango, mobile giant Vodafone Group (LSE: VOD) is profitable and is expected to report rising profits this year.

Indeed, City analysts recently increased their earnings forecasts for Vodafone for the first time in almost a year. Vodafone’s Project Spring investment programme is now coming to an end, and there are early signs of recovery in some of the group’s major European markets.

Vodafone has kept investors happy by holding its dividend at 11.3p over the last couple of years, despite not being able to cover the payout with earnings. It now looks like the combined effect of falling spending and rising sales could provide a big boost to its profits over the next couple of years.

What’s interesting is that the market hasn’t really questioned this approach. Vodafone shares currently yield 5.2% and trade on a 2016/17 forecast P/E of 38. In my view these figures suggest that the firm’s biggest investors are confident that profits will rebound strongly before Vodafone is forced to cut its dividend payout.

As a Vodafone shareholder myself, I hope that’s correct. In all honesty I’m not certain, but I’m willing to trust the group’s ability to make steady progress and continue to enjoy the dividend yield until something concrete changes.

The post Are Vodafone Group plc and Bango plc poised to deliver big gains for investors? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Clearly, this is a time of major change for Lonmin as it seeks to implement an updated strategy in response to exceptionally difficult trading conditions. As part of this, it is restructuring its business and also seeking to cut costs; both of which are likely to have a positive impact on Lonmin’s bottom line over the medium to long term. And with Lonmin having the capital through which to effect its new plan following last year’s fundraising, its future seems to be brighter than it was just a handful of months ago.

This increased confidence plus a more stable commodity price environment has led to a rise in Lonmin’s share price of 99% since the turn of the year. This rapid increase could continue, although Lonmin remains a relatively high risk play and may only be of interest to less risk averse investors.

Also rising today are shares in Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB), with them being up over 11% despite no significant news flow having been released by the company today. In fact, the gene therapy specialist has not released an update since 7 March when it announced a new and expanded collaboration with Immune Design Corp. Since then its shares have fallen by around 6% but looking ahead, the company has clear potential to deliver profitability.

The challenge for investors, though, is that profitability may still be a long way off. And in the meantime Oxford BioMedica is in a cash burn phase which could require further fundraisings following its £8.1m placing in February. As such, and while Oxford BioMedica has a bright long term future in a very appealing space, it may only be worth a closer look for less risk averse investors.

Meanwhile, shares in mobile payments company Bango (LSE: BGO) have risen by 12% today despite a lack of news flow. Despite this, its shares have still fallen by 60% since the turn of the year even though Bango’s full-year results have showed that it is making progress. For example, it experienced significant growth in end user spend, with the company also doubling the rate of spending through the Bango payment platform. And with a stable cost base, it seems to be well-positioned to move towards profitability.

Of course, the market seems to be somewhat downbeat on Bango’s prospects judging by its recent share price fall. While today’s upward movement could indicate a change in sentiment, it may be prudent to await confirmation of this over the medium term before piling in.

The post Why Are Lonmin Plc, Oxford BioMedica plc & Bango plc Among Today’s Biggest Gainers? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

However, with Bango experiencing faster than expected growth in developing markets, its end user spend margin was lower at 1.8%. The company expects further growth in end user spend during 2016 from its newer markets, where smartphone adoption is still increasing. And with its switch to recurring fees from upfront platform fees likely to have a positive impact on end user spend, it appears to be relatively well-positioned to continue its growth.

With Bango having a low fixed cost base, it has the capacity to process in excess of 10 times the current end user spend. It believes that it has a clear path to profitability and while it could prove to be a strong long-term performer, it looks set to remain highly volatile and risky during an uncertain period for the wider market.

Giant leap

Meanwhile, software specialist Fusionex (LSE: FXI) is also down by 16% today despite releasing results that are ahead of expectations. For example, revenue leapt by 35% versus the prior year, while net profit jumped by 28% versus the prior period. A key reason for such strong growth is the expansion of its partner network, with over 30% of its revenue coming from this space. And with Fusionex also reporting better than expected performance from its flagship big data product GIANT, as well as further investment in the product, it remains highly confident in its long-term future.

With Fusionex expected to grow its bottom line by 11% in the current year, it continues to offer upbeat near-term prospects. However, when the company’s valuation is taken into account, it appears as though its growth potential is already factored into its share price. For example, Fusionex trades on a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 3.7, which indicates that it lacks appeal at the present time.

Improving operations

Also reporting today is software and hardware provider Servelec (LSE: SERV). It finished 2015 with a strong order book, improving pipeline and increased cash position versus the prior year, with its performance being relatively resilient despite challenges in the oil and gas markets. In fact, its health and social care division helped to offset softer performance from its automation unit, which experienced a slower than expected increase in sales for the year.

Looking ahead, Servelec expects the delayed projects in the oil and gas space from 2015 to boost its automation division’s performance this year, while its health and social care unit continues to offer a robust outlook. This is set to lead to a rise in earnings of 11% in the current year and with Servelec trading on a PEG ratio of just 1.5, it appears to be a relatively appealing buy for the long term.

Clearly, its shares are likely to be volatile due to the company’s exposure to the oil and gas industry. But for long term, less risk-averse investors Servelec could hold significant appeal.

The post 3 Small-Cap Tech Stocks To Beat The Market Crash? Bango plc, Fusionex International PLC And Servelec Group PLC appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.