George and Ian catch up on US giants results, reflecting on very different approaches and perhaps outlooks, before considering whether the IPO noise is consistent with the share price performance of UK tech stocks.

Microsoft - AI reality, talk of returns on its own investment on AI but no real idea on those of its customers. George argues that it’s the best placed and bemoans the lowly valuation. 

Meta - it's worth listening to the call just as reminder of how different the mindset and culture is to Microsoft, Nvidia, Google and Amazon.

This leads onto what is AI 2.0: What business will be built on top of the cold AI servers? What’s next for search? Perhaps we will see Zuckerberg’s virtual dreams becoming a reality.

Back to the reality of the UK market and how the FTSE 100 rise contrasts with the UK small cap tech share price declines. Just how strong is the underlying local demand for new IPOs at full tech prices?

Finally, George has a few words on the life and passing of the great Dame Steve Shirley.

This week George and Ian canter through the newsflow of recent weeks, Bytes, Accesso, Northcoders and Hostelworld. 

Is Bytes broken? No, but its reputation has taken another beating. 

Hostelworld’s direct marketing expense reminds us why many startups sometimes feel they are just working for Google.

Reflecting on Salesforce’s recent wins with the US government, George looks back upon the Efficiency and Reform Group in the UK and whether its cost saving success will be repeated.

George and Ian catch up on events in and around the UK small and mid-cap listed tech.

Visma – potential London IPO.  Parallels with Sage are inevitable. Visma has grown through acquisition but still delivers on organic growth. It does not, however, scale per the SaaS storybook. A judgement in store not just for London vs the world but PE valuations vs reality and analysis too? 

IP Group capital markets event – Ian is hugely enthusiastic and reminded that UK tech is alive and well. The presentations highlighted the scale up issue – where the UK still struggles. The comments re the Mansion House Accord should be noted by public market participants.

Dotdigital’s acquisition of Social Snowball raises the ongoing question whether the UK public market’s investors’ lack of ambition for software companies with a focus on high margins at the expense of marketing and development may condemn UK tech companies to have to play catch up via expensive acquisitions.

Updates from companies, including TPX Impact and Made Tech suggest that UK public sector now has a better sense of itself and is returning spending.

George and Ian wish AIM a Happy 30th Birthday, consider its success and follow Charlie Munger’s edict of ‘invert, always invert’ to gain some context.

1,700 companies on AIM in 2007 was too many (polite way to say it), but 700 now is too few. 

The politically impossible bail out is not the answer, but what can be done for little cost and risk to the public purse? Perhaps if we make it more profitable for fund managers, and in particular for those with credible voices, for whom improving the quality of the businesses they invest in is a goal.  

George wants to know how you make a Staveley scale? (Other fund managers are available.)

George raises the issue of small-cap and AIM plc governance. How much does it cost, and what, realistically, can a NED actually do?  He relates a story of frustration from a NED contact.

Inevitably this leads to the RC Fornax shambles and whether fund managers know how much DD gets done by the NOMADs.

On the companies front it’s a tough market for Hays, progress for Capita and for Oxford Metrics it’s back to normal but with concerns over US university and research spending under the new regime.

George and Ian catch up on events in and around the UK small and mid-cap listed tech.

London Tech Week - George has been out and about and is enthused about by the talk by Gary Turner and Steve Vamas of Xero fame.

More LSE departures - To read the eulogies you would think that Ricardo was the greater success story. Ricardo was just easy to explain and love. Spectris was a bit of an effort to understand but made the effort to grow.  Few make the observation that WSP Global, the acquirer of Ricardo, was, not too long ago, a not-too-exciting Canadian small cap that simply had ambition, execution and its home market on its side.

Molten Ventures - the ~50% NAV discount persists. It’s complicated.  It delivers NAV growth but it has a primary valuation driver, Revolut – and how do you value that?

GB Group - Whilst the revised management are getting to grips, will investors simply end up with a business model that the brokers could sell rather than one that works?

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George and Ian catch up on events in and around the UK small and mid-cap listed tech.

Looking to the US, Salesforce and C3.ai results show positive momentum for AI, as of course do Nvidia’s. But investors are asking more questions and AI vs. Economic Downturn is a match that’s difficult to call.

Ian is more immediately concerned about the impact of US government actions to curtail sales into China by Cadence, Synopsis and Siemens EDA – companies which, like ASML and TSMC, you really need to understand to truly get tech.

George and Ian ponder the Pensions Investment Review. Only serious AIM/small-cap Kool-Aid imbibers would have hoped for much, so AIM/Aquis ranking on a par with a theme park near Bedford is perhaps a result.

Directing money to infrastructure/tech direct impact is an easier sell to the party/public than bailing out UK public equities.

Consider those who look upon it from the outside. This is a government that is trying to do something to stimulate growth. Something that could, or even should, be seen as a positive development.

To outsiders the failings of UK public equities and small-cap / AIM in particular are all too evident and have been for quite some time. It’s widely recognised as a market and regulatory structure that does not work as it should for investors or companies.  Perhaps that needs changing to get Rachel Reeves onside.

Grabbing the segue across to a market that has seen success on AIM, George highlights recent gaming sector newsflow and the potential for patient investors to gain from its returning health.

George and Ian consider Sage’s results and the return of the normal share price path following results. George points to Xero as Sage’s rain cloud whilst Ian points to the success of Sage’s Intacct offering.

Gamma’s AGM statement contained comments in the UK market that led to a share price fall, although the progress in Germany is something that the market should not ignore.

Tech and defence is discussed – George and Ian reflect on the spoof potential, surely not!

George and Ian catch up on news and events affecting UK small and mid-cap tech. 

IBM’s figures get George pondering the differing paths with AI for software vs IT professional services. He highlights the Asian IT services area, where growth is notably better than in the EU or North America, before looking at results from ActiveOps, GB Group and iOmart.

Ian comments on Oxford Metrics’ in-line update, Northcoders, and then Tracsis, where investors who bought into an earnings growth and digitalisation story have to work out where the UK rail system is now heading.

Ian eulogises about the Stanford AI report. It provides some encouraging data for UK tech proponents and provides insight into how AI is actually being used and what limited gains AI provides.

George focuses on the AI benchmarks issue – are they meaningful? Which leads Ian to question, given the huge scale and nature of many AI projects, whether any of the returns and benefits data that everyone craves is going to be valid.

George and Ian catch up on events in and around the UK small and mid-cap listed tech.

Alphawave’s lack of guidance for 2025 is no great surprise, but in an industry as complex as semiconductors can anyone take forecasts seriously.  Ensilica’s recent newsflow suggests not. We can, however, confidently predict that the forecasts are wrong.

Kainos is steadier than it was, but do the cuts mean that it is now out of sync with the rest of the market. George looks to the global picture and raises the long-term question that faces the UK IT services business.

Accesso also looks to be regaining its poise but reminds us that it is not just hardware companies that are subject to customer and supply chain timing issues.

Cirata is growing sales but is it just the old UK small-cap trap (AIM business model) of sales before profits before fund raise. The change in sales strategy in the US keeps the focus on how this company can make and grow profitable sales.

Tiny Build looks to a busy year, with new products – is the games sector in a comeback year?

Finally, we touch upon the Stanford AI report – nearly 500 pages covering everything from models, to hardware, to costs to energy. Thankfully, concisely summarised.

George and Ian catch up on the jumble of news, both good and bad, for UK-listed tech.

Pinewood.AI and Raspberry Pi deliver – although inventory build at Raspberry Pi is an issue that must be monitored.

BIG Technologies and the broken small and mid-cap due diligence stack. Whilst there’s still an interesting business, there is a far more interesting story that highlights how share-based remuneration can be a useful pointer into the heart of a company and its management.

And Alphawave Semi which has had Qualcomm come sniffing.  Could the market be just as confused on Alphawave’s departure as it was on Alphawave’s arrival?