If you have ever wondered why some companies split their shares into smaller chunks, this article is for you. In essence share splits do not make any meaningful difference to the fundamentals of a company.It is the equivalent of cutting the same pizza into more pieces.This is why there is some scepticism around companies undertaking a share split. It could be interpreted as management...

Games Workshop (GAW) £144.80Gain to date: 21%At the end of October 2024, we identified the potential for shares in fantasy games and miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) to break new ground, driven by the next growth phase of its business, after the post-pandemic pause.We were encouraged by analyst upgrades to 2026 earnings estimates which we believed could mark the start of a new upward...

Just over five years ago the stock market began to react in earnest to news of the Covid pandemic.The sell-off was short and sharp, with a modest recovery from the lows in the spring followed by sharper gains in November 2020 after AstraZeneca (AZN) made a vaccine breakthrough.However, a large number of UK stocks are still trading below the levels they were at by the close of trading on 21...

Full year profit ahead of expectationsStrong trading across core business and licensingBuilds on strong first halfFantasy games and miniatures retailer Games Workshop (GAW) rolled the equivalent of double-six on Wednesday (5 March) after confidently forecasting full year pre-tax profit to the end of May will be ahead of expectations.The shares jumped as much as 8% to top the FTSE 100, notching...

Stock prices in London, Paris and Frankfurt opened mostly in the green on Wednesday, amid a slew of purchasing managers indices data, as investors await the US ADP report.'Today, investors will watch the US ADP report, and PMI, ISM numbers from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean,' said Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya. 'While the European investors could brush off bad news on expectation that the...

Stock prices in London, Paris and Frankfurt were in the green on Tuesday morning, as housebuilders in the UK enjoyed a boost after giving trading updates.'Markets' sensitivity to major economic data will likely rise as policy uncertainties mount and appetite weakens,' commented Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya. 'Due today, the US will release its latest PPI numbers, and the headline PPI may have...

UK high street enduringLow ticket leisure a winnerValue retail showing resilienceMany have sounded the death knell for the UK high street, notably during the Covid crisis as retail trends shifted towards online shopping. Yet, the high street has endured amid the consumer's persistent demand for physical retail.And despite many high street stocks successfully adapting to this evolving retail...

Games Workshop (GAW) £139.20Gain to date: 16.5%We (once again) flagged the attractions of fantasy miniatures outfit Games Workshop (GAW) in October, arguing the company had rediscovered its growth mojo and was set to leave the logistics problems it endured during the pandemic behind it. WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE WE SAID TO BUY?It may have been a little more than a month since we added Games...

Creative guidelines agreed with AmazonFilm and TV series years awayFull-year guidance reiteratedAs expected, fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) has provided an update on its agreement with Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) to produce films and television series based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe.As usual Games Workshop has provided the bare minimum in terms of commentary and detail.Having...

Baillie Gifford UK Growth Trust (BGUK) 180pMarket cap: £251 millionWhile 2024 has been a reasonable year for growth investors generally, for those looking just at the UK it has still required patience and a need to stay focused on the fundamentals.As Baillie Gifford director James Budden put it at the firm's latest private investor forum, inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitics have...

Quarterly index changes this weekThree new names to join FTSE 100Four new stocks to join FTSE 250This Wednesday, FTSE Russell ? part of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) ? will announce the results of its latest quarterly index review.This includes potential changes to the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE Small-Cap indices which will become effective from the start of trading on 23...

Trading ahead of expectationsBig jump in royalty incomeAmazon tie-up news imminentIn an unscheduled update, fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) said trading since 8 September is tracking ahead of expectations and provided new financial estimates for the half year to 1 December.The news was well received with the shares jumping as much as 15% to a new all-time high of £136.5, taking...

Games Workshop (GAW) £119.40Market Cap: £3.9 billionWe flagged fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) in June 2022 at around £63 after the shares had halved in the prior nine months, arguing they rarely traded as cheaply.The shares have since retraced the lost ground but still sit just below all-time highs of around £120 and effectively have gone sideways over the last year....

A dividend is quite simply a portion of a company's earnings distributed to its investors.In the UK most companies pay two ordinary dividends per year, one at the half-way stage (the interim or first-half dividend) and one at the end of the year (the final dividend). Some UK firms pay quarterly dividends.Sometimes, companies will decide to pay a special dividend on a one-off basis if their...

Now the ballots have been cast at the general election, the UK could become the 'reassuringly boring' market, both politically and fiscally, when compared to the more extreme politics on the other side of the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean.So suggests Jean Roche, manager of the Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund (SCP), who notes capital allocators know more or less what to expect, which could...

Full year revenue and profit ahead of expectationsBig jump in licensing incomeAnalyst upgrades expectedThe hobbyist end of the gaming market appears to be as popular as ever after fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) revealed better than expected full year revenue and profit.The shares, which have been in a holding pattern this year, trading between £90 and £100, jumped 8% to...

The world of fantasy is clearly having a moment. The rise of ?romantasy? authors like Sarah J Maas, who has been a big part of UK publishing outfit Bloomsbury?s (BMY) recent success, have taken the genre out of its previous male-dominated realm to a whole new audience.Bloomsbury?s surging sales and the ongoing phenomenon that is Games Workshop (GAW) are two examples on the UK market which show...

Q3 trading in line with expectationsDividend of 105p declaredRecord first halfFantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) gave its customary brief trading update and declared a dividend of 105p per share, equating to total dividends in the current financial year to 420p.The shares traded up 2% to £102.50 on the news, taking gains over the past year to 17.3% compared with a 5% rise in the...

Deal inked following long hiatusCompanies yet to ?agree creative guidelines?FY24 guidance left unchangedFantasy miniatures-maker Games Workshop?s (GAW) deal with Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) to develop the Warhammer 40,000 universe into films and TV series has been signed at long last.It has been almost a year to the day since the company announced an ?agreement in principle? with the US tech, retail...

There were several trends in the UK stock market this year which, if you managed to identify them, served you well.Most obviously, although it may not have seemed it at the index level, large-cap stocks generally performed better than small- and mid-caps, although for the lucky few the small-cap space has been rife with takeover activity.In terms of sectors, aerospace and defence topped the...