Tech results dominated the session, with a sharp divide between growth stories and cyclical pain. Corero Network Security surged after lifting full-year guidance on the back of blistering first-half growth and a run of Tier-1 contract wins, while Nexteq slid as tariff-driven weakness in gaming hardware demand dragged it into an adjusted pre-tax loss. Elsewhere, broadcast software specialist Pebble Beach Systems and public-sector supplier Made Tech both posted encouraging updates, while smaller-cap GenIP and Pathos Communications rounded out a busy day of trading statements.
Corero lifts guidance as first half revenue jumps 42%
Corero Network Security (AIM:CNS), the AIM-listed distributed denial of service protection specialist, told investors it now expects full-year 2026 revenue and EBITDA to exceed market expectations, a call that sent shares up 20.6% to 10.25p. The upgrade followed a first half in which revenue rose 42% to $15.5 million against $10.9 million a year earlier, with EBITDA swinging to a $2.6 million profit from a $1.4 million loss in H1 2025.
Order intake grew 14% to $14.3 million and annualised recurring revenue rose 12% to $24.1 million, with customer retention holding at 96%. The half included a $1.1 million, three-year deal with data centre provider TierPoint for Corero's new web application security product, but the more significant catalyst came after the period closed: a $1.4 million, three-year contract with a Tier-1 US telecoms provider, a $3.4 million, five-year deal with a Tier-1 UK telecoms operator, and an initial $0.5 million, three-year agreement with a "NeoCloud" provider. Market consensus for FY2026 had stood at revenue of $29.2 million and EBITDA of $3.3 million, both of which Corero now expects to clear.
"This positive momentum has continued into the second half with notable customer wins secured, confident in delivering continued growth and exceeding market expectations for the full year," said Carl Herberger, Chief Executive.
The scale of the post-period contract wins, worth more than the entire in-period TierPoint deal combined, suggests the upgrade is not a one-off beat but a genuine inflection in Corero's shift toward subscription-based, recurring revenue. With retention still above 95% despite a slight dip and a pipeline management describes as improving, the credibility of the raised guidance now rests on converting that pipeline into further Tier-1 logos through the second half.
Nexteq revenue falls 34% as gaming demand slumps
Nexteq (AIM:NXQ), the technology solutions provider to industrial markets including gaming and displays, reported group revenue of $26.7 million for the six months to 30 June, down 34% from $40.7 million a year earlier, with shares falling 6% to 47.0p. The group swung to an adjusted pre-tax loss of $4 million, compared with a $0.9 million profit a year earlier, as adjusted diluted earnings per share fell to -7.60c from 1.17c.
The damage was concentrated in Quixant, the gaming-focused division, where revenue dropped 53% to $12.8 million after customers cut board volumes by 56% to 9.7k units in response to a roughly 30% rise in their own product costs from tariffs and component pricing. Densitron, the display solutions business, proved the more resilient half, holding revenue broadly flat at $13.9 million and lifting gross margin to a record 38%. Net cash turned negative at -$1.4 million, from $25 million at the end of December, reflecting a $12 million short-term Taiwan mortgage, $8.5 million returned to shareholders via dividends and buybacks, and strategic inventory investment. "H1 2026 was a challenging period for Nexteq, with the headwinds facing our end markets intensifying during the period. However, we continued to make progress against the areas that will build a stronger, more diversified business," said Duncan Faithfull, Chief Executive Officer.
The tariff shock has exposed how concentrated Nexteq's earnings power remains in gaming hardware, even as Densitron's margin gains show the diversification strategy has some traction. Until customer order volumes in Quixant stabilise, the swing to a negative net cash position and the temporary Taiwan mortgage will keep balance sheet flexibility under scrutiny.
Pebble Beach Systems lifts profit 73% as recurring revenue jumps
Pebble Beach Systems Group (AIM:PEB), the provider of automation software for broadcast and streaming customers, grew adjusted pre-tax profit by 73% to £1.9 million in the six months to 30 June, up from £1.1 million a year earlier, even as shares dipped slightly to 25.8p, down 0.77%. Revenue rose 10% to £6.5 million, split between a 19% jump in project revenue to £3.1 million and a 6% rise in recurring support and maintenance revenue to £3.4 million.
The project revenue gain reflected favourable timing of high-margin software licence deliveries, which pushed adjusted EBITDA up 25% to £2.5 million and the margin to 37% from 33% a year earlier; the Board expects licence revenue to fall as a proportion of sales in the second half, normalising margins from here. Annualised recurring revenue reached £8.1 million at period end, up 20% from £6.7 million at the end of December, helped by strong SLA renewals and four new Tier 1 customer wins spanning broadcasters in Singapore and Australia and streaming companies in the US and Romania. Net debt excluding lease liabilities fell 76% to £0.8 million from £3.4 million. "Pebble has delivered encouraging first-half results, in line with management expectations, confidence," said Tom Crawford, Non-Executive Chairman.
The steep fall in net debt alongside a growing recurring-revenue base gives Pebble Beach more room to reinvest in its streaming pipeline just as licence-driven margins are set to normalise. The real test for the second half is whether the four new Tier 1 wins translate into a durable step-up in recurring revenue once the licence timing tailwind fades.
Made Tech wins place on Met Office £68 million tech framework
Made Tech Group (AIM:MTEC), the provider of digital, data and technology services to the UK public sector, has been selected as a supplier on all three lots it bid for under the Met Office's Delivery Partnerships Framework 2, with shares rising 5.4% to 48.5p. The four-year framework covers technology solutions across the full lifecycle of Met Office products and services, and Made Tech's lots are worth a combined £68 million: £9 million for Data, £12 million for Secure Services, and £47 million for Applications.
No contracts have yet been awarded under the framework, and there is no guaranteed level of spend attributable to Made Tech, with individual work packages tendered over its term. The company singled out its Secure Services selection as particularly significant, since it opens a route to higher-security government work, including Defence-related programmes, building on capabilities developed in its Public Safety business. "Expanding and deepening our existing client relationships is a key growth driver, alongside new client wins, and this selection underscores the progress we are making across both fronts," said Rory MacDonald, Chief Executive.
The framework win carries no immediate revenue certainty, but the Secure Services lot in particular signals Made Tech's push beyond conventional digital services into higher-margin, higher-clearance government work. If work packages materialise at scale, the Applications lot alone, worth £47 million, would represent a meaningful expansion of the company's addressable pipeline within central government.
GenIP brings Invention Evaluator platform in-house
GenIP (AIM:TEK), the AI commercialisation specialist, has given notice on its Phosphorix agreement, ending the shared margins and fixed fees that applied to its flagship Invention Evaluator product. Shares fell 6.2% to 3.05p on the news.
Bringing the platform in-house removes a third-party cost structure that had been diluting margins on GenIP's core product, though it also shifts operational responsibility fully onto the company. The move signals management's intent to capture more of the economics from Invention Evaluator directly, a decision that will only be validated once standalone margins and platform performance become visible in future results.
Pathos Communications revenues rise in first half
Pathos Communications (AIM:NEWS), the PR technology firm, reported double-digit growth in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the first half, with shares up 5.8% to 27.5p. Management guided to full-year results in line with or slightly ahead of current market expectations.
The reiterated, modestly upgraded guidance suggests the growth seen in the first half has continued into the second, giving the company a steadier footing than some of its more cyclically exposed peers in the sector reporting this week.
