The share price of radio frequency technology company Filtronic (LSE: FTC) has exploded higher today (24 April). As I write this, the AIM stock is up more than 44% but was up over 60% at one point. So, what’s behind this enormous move in the shares? And is this exciting growth stock worth buying for my portfolio? Rocketing share price There are two reasons the shares have spiked today. The first is that the company published a strong trading update. In this report, it told investors that, thanks to some recent contract wins, the outlook for FY24 and FY25 will exceed current market estimates ..read more

This week, the FTSE 100 index of leading companies hit an all-time closing high (index archivists look at both the closing price each day and also the highs and lows the index hits within the trading day). That might make it sound like now is an awful time to buy FTSE 100 shares as they are bound to be expensive. In fact, I think the opposite is true in some ways. Right now, I reckon some lead index shares are priced as bargains. Confused? Let me explain! Price and value   The first point to understand is that price and value are not necessarily the same thing. In a perfectly efficient m ..read more

Lloyds (LSE:LLOY) shares were down a few percent in morning trading (24 April) following the release of the bank’s first quarter results. The stock has been gaining momentum in recent times. Yet after rising 24.8% in the last six months, its latest update may have thrown a spanner in the works. Now sitting around the 52p mark, could this present an opportunity for investors? An overview Before I answer that, let’s take a look at the results. What caught the attention of investors the most was a 28% fall in profit. For the three months to 31 March 2023, pre-tax profit fell to £1.6bn, down fro ..read more

A new broom looks like it’s sweeping clean, and the Reckitt (LSE: RKT) share price may be about to fly. Chief executive Kris Licht arrived on the scene at the beginning of October 2023. So, with more than six months gone, today’s (24 April) first-quarter results update is a good point to assess progress. Operational challenges Before diving in, here’s a little context: the fast-moving consumer goods business has been struggling for the past few years. Earnings have been patchy, and the performance of the share price has been, well, yucky! It’s no coincidence that the company’s fortunes took ..read more

The Croda International (LSE:CRDA) share price has fallen by 33% over the last year. This has been the result of weak sales as the firm’s customers work their way through unusually high inventories. That can’t go on forever, though. And with revenues up 8% sequentially during the first three months of 2024, is it time for shares in the FTSE 100 chemicals company to bounce back? A bit of context First things first – a bit of background. Croda sells speciality chemicals that are used in the consumer care, life sciences, and industrial industries. The most important of these are consumer care an ..read more

The Bunzl (LSE: BNZL) share price rose today (24 April) after the firm updated investors on its progress so far in 2024. As I write, the FTSE 100 stock is up 1.24% to 3,092p. Here, I’ll take a gander at this first-quarter (Q1) update and consider whether I would add the stock to my portfolio. Beautifully boring Bunzl Bunzl is a global distribution and services firm. It distributes paper cups, napkins, clingfilm, soap, shopping bags, and many other basic products for the grocery, hospitality, retail and healthcare industries. This often gets it labelled as boring. Indeed, if you start researc ..read more

When people start to get bullish about shares but aren’t sure which individual ones to buy, many will go for investment trusts. I’ve just been looking at the most popular investment trusts bought by Hargreaves Lansdown customers in April. They’re not what I’d expect, and they say a few interesting things. In terms of net buys, these are the top five: Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE: SMT) JPMorgan Global Growth & Income BBGI Global Infrastructure City Of London Investment Trust (LSE: CTY) BlackRock World Mining Trust Just outside these we see Greencoat UK Wind, so at least we hav ..read more

With the FTSE 100 hitting a new high above 8,000 points, top dividend stocks could see their yields start to fall. And we might just be in for a bull run now, as confidence does seem to be rising. Investing services firms like Hargreaves Lansdown reckon sentiment among its customers is on the rise. So what’s the smartest way to buy dividend stocks now? Big = smart? We could just go for the biggest yields. But would that be smart? We could end up buying something like Phoenix Group Holdings, British America Tobacco, M&G, Imperial Brands, and Legal & General. At £500 apiece, we’d have ..read more

Barclays (LSE: BARC) has started 2024 with a boom. The share price is up 23% year to date, which makes a change from the dreary performance of the two years prior. I thought it was time to see if this giant is worth a place in my Stocks and Shares ISA. The share price fell over 15% in 2022 and 3% in 2023. As it tends to go in the investing world, just when things start to look bleak, the company catches markets off-guard. Headline earnings Barclays surprised markets in February when it announced a plan to return £10bn to shareholders over the next three years. The pledge from the Barclays CE ..read more

National Grid (LSE: NG) shares are currently trading at £10.58. So, £10,000 would buy me 945 of them. In 2023, the owner-operator of the electricity transmission system in England and Wales paid a dividend of 55.44p a share. This gives a yield of 5.2%. There is every chance this will go up this year, in my view. The company increased the interim dividend for 2024 by 9%. If the full-year dividend increased by the same percentage, it would be 60.43p. Based on the present share price, this would give a dividend yield of 5.7%. How much passive income would I make? Passive income is money ma ..read more