The most successful long term investors tend to be contrarian in nature. That is being prepared to go against the ‘herd’ and invest in businesses where the fundamentals are improving but this has not yet been reflected in the stockprice
Take AI powered neuro degenerative imaging firm IXICO.
In July, it upgraded Sept FY’25 revenue guidance by 5% to £6.3m thanks to strong demand for its cutting edge biomarker imaging analytics solutions and continued expansion (from its core franchise in Huntington’s disease) into other adjacent neurological areas – such as blood based diagnostics, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's and Friedrich's Ataxia.
Well IXICO has done it again. Saying this morning in a positive trading statement, that FY’25 sales would be at least £6.5m, representing +12% YoY growth. An impressive achievement given not only the tough macro backdrop, but also ongoing challenges across the broader biotech and medical research industries (eg NIH in the US).
Elsewhere, the orderbook climbed by 5% in H2 to £13.8m - alongside helping underpin expectations for the year ahead. Equally FY’25 cash burn (est £2m) came in better than anticipated, with net funds closing Sept’25 at £3.5m. Similarly providing sufficient capital for the group to become EBITDA profitable in the medium term (Est breakeven turnover of £8.5m) compared to a loss of -£1.6m in FY'25.
CEO Bram Goorden commenting: “I am thrilled with the performance of the IXICO team this first full financial year of my tenure with the Company. The oversubscribed capital raise at the start of the year (re net £3.7m in Oct’24 at 9.5p) allowed us to double down investments in specific areas of growth targeting new customers and novel verticals. It is my strong belief that these initial positive signals will translate into a sustained period of growth and value creation as we further scale our impact in the thriving market of neurodegenerative disease biopharma R&D. Failure is not an option. Patients are waiting for solutions, and the biopharma industry is working harder than ever in CNS to develop treatments.”
Finally wrt the numbers, house broker Cavendish (b4 today's news) were predicting Sept FY26 EBITDA of -£1.6m on turnover of £6.9m, augmented by a 24p/share price target.