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A number of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 shares are set to release fresh trading updates this week. I’ve been looking at the financial calendar to see which ones in particular might report strong results that turbocharge their share prices.
Three in particular have grabbed my attention:
Here’s why I think these FTSE stocks could soar and are worth serious consideration.
Going green
Greencore is a leading producer of convenience foods in the UK like pre-packaged sandwiches, salads and chilled ready meals. It’s due to release a Q4 and full-year trading statement tomorrow (13 October), and I’m pretty excited.
The UK food retail market has proven largely resilient despite rising inflation. But the FTSE 250 firm has gone one better, outperforming the broader market and — as a consequence — it raised its profit forecasts in July. That Q3 update also saw Greencore report better-than-expected cost improvements following its purchase of peer Bakkavor in January.
Could Greencore impress investors again this week? Resilient demand in high-margin categories like sushi and premium sandwiches suggests it could. It might also benefit further from cross-selling activities and synergies from the Bakkavor acquisition. Just be mindful that rising inflation could become a problem at some point.
A FTSE 100 riser?
Rio Tinto might also sail higher when it releases Q3 production results on 14 October. It did this back in July, when record iron ore revenues helped it surge past the broader FTSE 100.
The steelmaking ingredient is a key profit driver at Rio, accounting for roughly 60% of underlying earnings. Back in Q2, it reported sales of 85.3m tonnes from its Pilbara region in Australia. This comfortably beat the forecast of 83.6m tonnes, and was up an impressive 7% year on year.
The Footsie miner has a strong operational record I expect to continue. But remember that rising diesel costs are a threat that may take the shine off Wednesday’s update.
Tech star
I’m very optimistic that Softcat will again impress the market with full-year numbers on 14 October. As a shareholder myself I’ll be keeping a close watch — it’s raised profit forecasts twice already this financial year.
This FTSE 250 share provides a wide range of IT services. Cybersecurity, networking, and cloud computing are just a few areas it’s an expert in. And it’s thriving as companies digitalise their functions to cut costs and meet changing consumer needs and habits.
In September, Softcat said it expected “high-teens” profit growth for last year following strong trading, not the mid-teen increase previously forecast. Can it impress the market again on Wednesday? I think it can, helped by recent acquisitions, though bear in mind the potential impact a weak UK economy may also have.
Another top growth stock to consider?
Softcat has grown organic profit for 20 years on the spin, making it one of the FTSE 250’s best growth stocks. I think it has significant scope to continue outperforming, though if you’re not convinced, I’d suggest taking a look at the share discussed in the free wealth report below.
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Royston Wild owns shares in Softcat.
This story originally appeared on Motley Fool
