UK tech stocks delivered a mixed session, with strong operational news driving sharp moves in opposite directions. Kainos Group's guidance upgrade sent its shares soaring, Made Tech Group notched its second guidance raise of the year on the back of a landmark government contract, while Pulsar shares slid after the company was forced to address press speculation over its HMRC dealings.
Kainos lifts FY27 guidance on record backlog
Kainos Group (LSE:KNOS), the UK IT services provider spanning Digital Services, Workday Services and Workday Products, told the market that trading since 31 March has strengthened sufficiently for the board to raise guidance for the year ending March 2027. The update sent shares up 20.206% to 1169.0p, building on a run of double-digit revenue growth, strong sales and record backlog levels achieved in the year just ended.
The company now expects revenue and adjusted pre-tax profit for the new financial year to come in comfortably ahead of current market expectations, which range from £498m to £514m in revenue and £75m to £84m in adjusted pre-tax profit, against consensus figures of £509.3m and £77.1m. Digital Services is growing strongly off the back of significant contracts secured in the second half of the last financial year and further wins since April, while both Workday Services and Workday Products delivered double-digit revenue growth over the same comparative period. Kainos is due to report half-year results for the six months to 30 September on Monday 9 November.
"Kainos operates in markets driven by clear structural trends and remains well positioned to deliver on its strategy," said Kainos Group.
The scale of the move, a rise of more than a fifth in a single session, reflects how far ahead of expectations this upgrade lands, not a marginal beat. With a multi-year contracted backlog and a robust pipeline cited despite a volatile macro backdrop, the update reframes Kainos less as a cyclical IT services vendor and more as a company compounding structural demand across public and private sector digital transformation and Workday ecosystems. The bar for the November half-year print has now risen accordingly.
Made Tech wins record £40m government contract
Made Tech Group (MTEC), which supplies digital, data and technology services to the UK public sector, has been named as part of a consortium awarded a four-year contract with a UK government department worth approximately £40m to the company over its life, the largest contract in its history. Shares rose 11.111% to 42.5p on the news.
Revenue from the deal begins in FY27 and builds more meaningfully in FY28, prompting the board to lift FY27 revenue guidance to £63m–£66m and adjusted EBITDA guidance to £6.3m–£6.6m, both ahead of prior market expectations of £60.3m and £6.0m respectively. It is the second guidance upgrade this year, following an acceleration in sales bookings in the second half flagged in a recent trading update, and it pushes the group's contracted backlog to approximately £115m. "This is the largest contract award in our history and marks an important milestone in our growth. The award also endorses our position at the centre of a number of critical programmes across government," said Rory MacDonald, chief executive of Made Tech.
Back-to-back guidance upgrades built on an expanding backlog mark a shift in Made Tech's trajectory from a small-cap public sector supplier to one increasingly embedded in critical, multi-year government programmes, a status that should support both revenue visibility and bargaining power on future tenders.
Pulsar confirms HMRC payment plan amid speculation
Pulsar (PULS) moved to address press speculation over its dealings with HM Revenue & Customs, confirming in a stock market statement that it remains in regular contact with the tax authority regarding the timing of certain VAT and PAYE payments. Shares fell 12.5% to 24.5p following the update.
The company said substantial payments have already been made, with the board expecting the remaining amounts to be settled from normal cash collections. Pulsar characterised its underlying trading as stable and the business as operating normally, adding that the board anticipates a satisfactory conclusion with HMRC and will provide further updates as appropriate.
The sharp share price reaction underlines how sensitive investors remain to any hint of financial strain, even where the company insists trading is unaffected; until Pulsar can point to a formal resolution with HMRC, the overhang from unanswered questions is likely to weigh on sentiment more than the underlying operational narrative would otherwise justify.
