The Year Ahead
Zakstraderscafe’s stock for 2026 is one that I approach with even more trepidation than usual, given how, during 2025, the amount of abuse and defamation received here has varied between being personal and off the scale. Apparently, there is nothing to be done regarding psychotic attacks, apart from ignoring them, especially if they are malicious, wilfully inaccurate, or simply part of a gangland-style turf war in the online stock market punditry / PR space.
And of course, there is no one to complain to as apparently our guardians / regulators are on the side of the abusers. This is unacceptable, and it is one of the reasons that companies are leaving the stock market, or of course, not listing in the first place. After one news story in The Times a few weeks back, it would seem that the LSE is back to doing what it does best, maintaining the less that satisfactory status quo.
The Best of 2025’s Stocks
I normally wait for all the other “Stocks for the New Year” merchants to deliver their updates before throwing my hat into the ring. The difference between Zakstraderscafe and most of the rest is that there is a timing / price target angle, versus the general fundamentals only approach one normally sees in the papers and elsewhere. This can add in some spice, as it did in 2025. While the top tip Sovereign Metals (SVML) only rallied from 36p to 48p at best, number two Zenith (ZEN) only just missed the target of 20p, moving from 5p to 17p. Indeed, several of the 25 stocks in the selection for 2025 blew the lights out as well as Zenith: Fusion Antibodies (FAB), WeCap (WCAP), Pulsar (PLSR), Asiamet (ARS), Helix (HEX), Coinsilium (AQSE:COIN) by 10x on the 8p target, Eurasia (EUA), Blencowe (BRES), Audioboom (BOOM), Filtronic (FTC), Vinanz, now the London Bitcoin Company (BTC), Metals One (MET1) by a mile at one stage, and Capital Metals (CMET). On the not so good side Ananda (AQSE:ANA) is leaving Aquis, we are still waiting on Energy Pathways (EPP), while Beowulf (BEM), Predator (PRD) and Valereum (VLRM) have disappointed. But on the basis of the contribution from the boom in resources, and the Bitcoin Treasury boom of the early summer, 2025 was a winner for small caps overall.
Stocks For 2026
This year, for a change, there is no numerical order. For the record last year’s top tip, or at least number one, was Sovereign Metals (SVML) 29p. This was a much on the basis of it being a potential blue chip, and indeed the owner of the Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project in Malawi still only has a near £200m market cap. This is despite this month’s news that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is to support the sustainable development of Kasiya. One would have thought that this news would mean that the share price of SVML was off to the races. This has not so far been the case. However, it is enough to allow us to throw the dice once again on this stock for 2026. 50p as a target seems fair, as compared to 29p now.
As a long suffering shareholder of podcast group Audioboom (BOOM) 775p, I love reading the gushing reviews of its business, prospects and valuation. However, the shares are still well off the giddy heights of 2022, over £20, which is really the rating that most in the stock would be truly happy with. Ironically, the 700p – 800p zone is the last real resistance on the chart before £20, so it could be the case now we are at 765p (an 85% rise in 2025), the shares may finally be on their way. Indeed, above 600p December support, this could be the case. However, if anyone says that a £140m market cap is cheap for a company that flashed $9.1m for November’s revenues, it would be tough to do so. Instead, it may be the company’s strategic value which could take it back through the £10 a share barrier and beyond.
ACG Metals (ACG) managed a 174% share price rise in 2025, with little fanfare, apart from the splash made at the end of the year via the mooted takeover of Anglo Asian Mining (AAZ). In the end it did not happen, but the non-M&A deal did shine a light on both companies, and how the potential bidder has a much lower stock market rating than AAZ. Hence there was no deal. All of this was of course setup before Q4 2025 by the soaring price of critical metals this year, which became all the more critical in the wake of the tariff wars, and China’s tightening export bans. This was the driver for ACG, particularly given the company’s focus to transition from gold to copper production. Judging by the latest swings in the price of both these metals, this could be a decent plan for 2026. In fact, I am tantalised by the forecast P/E for 2027 as 6.4, something which could be a decent driver for the shares, over and above the stated “roll up acquisition” strategy.
WeCap (AQSE:WCAP) 1.85p, was one of the winners in last year’s stocks for 2025, easily achieving the 2.5p target this autumn, versus being at 1.10p to start with. I have to feel very pleased with that one, even though 2025 was always supposed to be the one for a Nasdaq listing on WeShop, and a proper transformation for the company. It helps that for 2026 we know we should see the end of the lock-in on WCAP selling its WeShop shares by November, something which is currently allegedly depressingly the share price currently. Surprisingly enough the bulls do not seem to mention this, the lock-in at least. On this basis though, we could see a 10x rally for WCAP as the date for the lock-in expiring is approached.
Roadside (ROAD) managed a 36% share price rise in 2024, so it might have seemed that giving the out of town retail convenience group a thumbs up for 2025 could have been pushing it. Well, the shares were “only” up 151%. But the company reminded us that in the investment game one really has to stick to the companies where all the stars are aligned: sector, strategy, management credibility, management skin in the game, cap table, funding. These 7 pillars are easy to say, but difficult to find. Highlights as far as the newsflow this year for ROAD were all part of the “scalable, petrol forecourt and convenience retail business” strategy. The year ended with a £17.8m Gardiner Retail acquisition in December. This followed on from the October year end update: “Balance sheet bolstered through put option to realise a minimum of £48 million from the Company’s investment in Cambridge Sleep Sciences (with 50% of the consideration to be received in September 2026 and 50% in September 2027) and through the agreement to dispose of the Group’s non-core Commercial Property division for £12m (net consideration £4.7 million). Assuming the Put Option is exercised for the minimum consideration of £48 million, Roadside would recognise a profit that exceeds £7m aggregate across FY25, FY26 and FY27.” Can’t really argue with that. The market cap of ROAD just exceeded the £100m level. It seems that we are still at the foothills on this story.
Ajax Resources (AJAX) is a company which was special a couple of years ago when it became a fully listed mining sector SPAC, fronted by a young CEO, Ippolito Cattaneo. Well, it would appear that he has certainly grown into the job over the past few years, something which has been all the more impressive given the way that AJAX made the perhaps counter-intuitive move to move from main board to Aquis. This is of course because of the idiotic £30m minimum market cap rule, one of the many rules designed to put off as many people as possible from wanting to list on the London market. But it can be seen that AJAX is a company which buys top tier assets at knock down prices, and makes the kind of giant killing moves in the space which in the current soaring commodity prices environment should bode well for shareholders. Recent newsflow alone has underlined that this is a company in a hurry, with the Paguanta acquisition, Leon, Rachaite, approval of EIS for Eureka Project, as well as the £1.2m fundraise. The shares have bounced well above 5p in December, and with momentum and profile gathering one would assume 10p will be hit in Q1 2026.
Ascent Resources (AST) has on the face of it, and at least in share price terms not had a great year. While there was a slight flurry in the wake of announcement in November that it has, together with its partner American Helium, entered into an option agreement with Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) and its partner Omaha Value. The agreement grants NMT/OMA a 60-day exclusive option to negotiate a definitive access and use licence over Ascent and AH’s portfolio of existing oil and gas wells and leases in the Paradox Basin, Utah, for the purpose of exploring and potentially extracting lithium and potash from critical mineral-rich brines. However, the elephant in the room announcement from AST was regarding its Energy Charter Treaty Claim against the Republic of Slovenia. The denouement here is due to be delivered by the end of Q1 2026. Quite why the shares remain near multi-year lows is a mystery, even within the context of the London being totally non-forward looking. The €656m claim compares to the £3.2m market cap currently, so quite a disconnect. To quote the Dirty Harry Callahan character, “You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?” Presumably, given the current share price, most in the market do not.
Indeed, it always seems to be the case that as far as disputes are concerned, the market always looks on the negative side, not marking up a share price one iota unless, until the money is not only won, but also hits the bank account. Zenith Energy (ZEN), with its potential $639.7 million tangle with Tunisia will conclude in 2026. The shares were already a win from 5p to 17p in 2025. There is the potential for an even bigger win from the current 3p to say 20p plus.
The same can be said of Panthera (PAT), in terms of the upside that could be on tap in 2026, we have the timeframe versus the Indian government, and a $1.58 billion claim regarding the alleged unlawful expropriation of the Bhukia gold project. While shares of PAT are up 2x this year, the market cap at £58m is still modest, and the company is making headway in terms of its Kalaka project in Mali. On a technical basis one would be looking for 35p versus 22p now in Q1 2026, the longer the shares remain above the 20p zone.
While we are expecting the possibility of big litigation wins for some small cap companies in 2026, in the case of Phoenix Copper (PXC), shareholders have had to endure the wait on funding for the longest time. The so-called copper bond would be transformational for the company, and this especially in the present environment where the US is looking to secure critical metals supply. PXC right in the heartland of Idaho. The flagship asset is the Empire Mine, which will of course become an even greater jewel in the crown once the money comes. Recent days have seen the share price surge from as low as 1.75p, versus 3.6p now. If / when the money comes in we should be looking at a return to 2023 share price levels between 20p and 40p. The giveaway in terms of something good happening have been the recent widespread director share price purchases. This may be a case of one plus one equalling three. But after such a long wait three would be conservative.
Assuming that something good will happen to a company in a one year window is actually not a bad way of focussing on the game of trying to win in small caps. Apart from litigation situations, shell situations should and could be a decent stomping ground. The three companies that immediately come to mind are Fragrant Prosperity (FPP), where extensive TR1s this autumn, and the board appointment of tech guru Nicholas Gregory implies the market is betting on a tech deal. For GS Chain (GSC), the company raised £300,000 in October, and said it “continues its work to identify and secure a suitable reverse takeover target.”
Wildcat (WCAT) is another main board listed company which has been touting for a significant deal. So far we have had the hint that this would either be in the oil and gas space, the day job of the company, or commodities in general. At the moment, the situation is fluid. But the appointment of Dr. Olinga Taeed to the board as Executive Director in September also implies a tokenisation strategy may be revealed for 2026. Whatever the case, with the shares at less that a £2m market cap, and shells highlight sought after, this could be a decent “watch this space” situation.
One of the rich veins on the fundamental front in the final quarter of this year has been the revival in companies exposed to the Atlantic Basin margins in terms of oil and gas. In some ways the stock that was the most unloved has been the one that have rebounded the most. This comes in the form of Eco (Atlantic) (ECO), where the shares have risen nearly 2.5x on the month of December, and according to the charting here at Zakstraderscafe seem set for more. Indeed, above 25p it would appear that the shares could make a beeline for former 2022 resistance at 45p, sometime before the end of Q1 2026. Similar excitement has overspilled to Borders (BOR) and Rockhopper (RKH). That said, it was Eco entering into a binding Framework Agreement, the Orinduik Option and the Block 1 CBK Option with Navitas Petroleum LP, an international oil and gas exploration and production partnership with a portfolio of established North American and Falkland Islands oil and gas assets.
One of the passions of Zakstraderscafe is support for companies who are new to the market, and come with a new idea. GenIP (GNIP) came to market in October 2024, with its generative AI based research focusing on helping companies assess the merits of businesses. This saves time and money, and hopefully means that they make the right investment. From the perspective of GNIP 2025 has been big on significant newsflow, with the company looking to make a landgrab across different geographies and different sectors. A highlight for the latter part of the year was the announcement of alliances in tech, universities and the launch of the Invention Validator. In September GNIP’s push into the corporate market was underlined by a strategic corporate partnership with 360 Social Impact Studios, a global innovation consulting firm and venture studio based in Seatle. This reminded us that GNIP is set to steal the lunch of the big consulting firms going forward, a point underlined by all the reported layoffs in the space. The opportunity for 2026 is to get the shares for under 10p, after the recent placing, and looking for the company to build a multi-pronged rollout under the watch of young CEO, Melissa Cruz.
Although most of the companies mentioned in the list for 2026 have at least a fair to middling stock market profile, one could argue that being mentioned here will be a decent boost to health brands group Tooru (TOO). Shares of the company managed to edge up 18% by the year end in 2025, something which was the nascent appreciation of the rollout strategy that has already begun. The focus on gluten-free and other touchy-feely health foods is obviously on the zeitgeist, and presumably big with Green Party fanatics / those who like Zack Polanski’s teeth. Hence one would expect TOO to flourish in 2026, as more big name outlets and distributors, including Tesco kick in for the company.
Hydrogen Utopia (HUI) has been a fully non-paid up member of the stock market’s price fixing cartel from the time it listed, something which still defines the share price, and general under-playing of the company’s now excellent prospects. 2025 was the year that the company got the proven tech to turn waste plastic into hydrogen, and chose the geography where there is the cash and the will to roll out systems. Of course, this would mean millions in fees to HUI, and all of this is likely to hit in 2026. The appearance of the company’s first institutional investor in December underlines the opportunity, as does the way that the shares, despite the price fixing cartel, has remained above the placing price is a decent giveaway as to what will happen next. The next sustained break of the Anyone who wishes to have a full list of companies that are victim to the great London stock market price fixing cartel, feel free to email.
Capital Metals (CMET) has been one of those companies where the management have proved that there are made of sterner stuff than most. I have interviewed Executive Chairman Greg Martyr several times over the past couple of years, through thick and thin as far as the mineral sands project developer in Sri Lanka, which at one point looked as though it may not have a project to develop. However, CMET has survived that scare, proved up the Taprobane project with a 15x rise in the MRE in the initial area, and is ready to be on the road to production. The shares managed a 167% rise for 2025, and should do the same again given the progress being made, and anticipated.
Obviously, the nature of the game as far as the stocks for 2026 is largely fundamental, as one is hoping that the time window mixed with a company’s newsflow will do the job for the share price. In the case of Catenai (CTAI), 2025’s big transformation was the investment in Alludium: “Alludium (alludium.ai) is developing an Agent Operating System that enables users to create, deploy and share custom agents through conversation, no coding required. Unlike traditional AI tools that operate in isolation, Alludium’s platform allows multiple AI agents to collaborate with each other and with users, building institutional memory and automating workflows across organisations.” I am old, so the concept of multiple AI agents collaborating with each other may as well be the CIA working with MI6. That said, the company did capture the imagination of investors in 2025, with the shares peaking in November through 0.6p. One would consider that August and December support for the shares down at 0.2p is a floor area for the shares, especially as Alludium moves forward in its development.
2025 was a year of breakthroughs, both expected and out of the blue. It was also a year when companies who had been on the back foot for the longest time suddenly came to life. Enter Bezant (BZT) with its 4x rally in over the past year. This is stunning not only for the percentage, but also for the way that it leaves the market cap still shy of £20m. The prospects here have been boosted by the company’s Hope & Gorob flagship project in Namibia gaining a $7m prepayment facility and offtake agreement, but of course the soaring price of copper. It all had to happen eventually, and in the wake of tariff wars and critical metal supply fears, this was the year it all came in at once. Indeed, while one would fully expect the momentum of 2025 to continue for BZT, it may be regarded as surprising that “sister company” (the Colin Bird connection) Galileo (GLR) did not get a similar amount of stock market love. This was despite the recent news of a partnership with Jubilee’s (JLP) Molefe copper mine in Zambia, and progress at its Kalahari Copperbelt in Botswana.
Boohoo (DEBS): As someone is for some reason is not necessarily in the loop with the greatest investors on the London stock market, it seems I did miss the first flush of the big rally in DEBS last month. The main reason is that I have thought the company a complete dog, so that whatever it said or did hitherto was something to ignore. This was not perhaps the best of ideas, and underlines how with the stock market one has to keep an open mind. The trigger for the sharp share price rebound was the revelation of share buying by the founders, and a turnaround strategy. Indeed, after the spike and pullback to the 20p zone, a technical target as high as 40p could be on the cards in Q1, while we hold recent support.
Apparently 2025 was the Chinese year of the Wood Snake. It was also the year of Biticoin treasury strategy, or more precisely May and June were. After that there was perhaps one of the most painful retreats since Moscow, Gallipoli, Dunkirk and Stalingrad. B Hodl (AQSE:HODL) came to market in late September armed with the knowledge of what had happened to those in the space who came and fell before, and ensuring that it had a war chest to see it through any crypto winter. The company is all about revenue generation of its bitcoin-backed loan generation. It also has had the advantage of being able to buy BTC largely at the lower levels, closer to $90,0000 rather than the record highs many treasury strategy firms were sucked into. As things stand the shares look well supported near the 10p zone, from which they have already bounced a few times as opposed to the best levels through 20p which we would hope will be revisited early in 2026.
CleanTech (CTL): This year there has been far less of the bottom fishing that normally goes on when one is trying to find winners for the New Year. While conditions may be more bullish in the small cap space than they have been for quite some time, falling knives remain falling knives. However, CTL now has a “local” CEO in the form of Ignacio Mehech, remains in the box seat in the country in terms of its DLE technology, and for the end of the year announced the new streamlined process to be awarded a Special Lithium Operating Contract (“CEOL”) for Laguna Verde is now officially open for applications. With cash raised and a rebound lithium prices, as well as Chile presumably being desperate for revenue, we should see shares of CTL back towards 2025 highs over 10p, sooner rather than later in 2026.
As I have said above, or at least intimated, 2025 really was the year of the surprise revival, or perhaps more colloquially, dogs having their day. This is not necessarily a rude thing to say, it is actually a relief that shareholders in respective companies who may have thought they were doomed, finally saw some light. There were fewer better examples of this than Eco Buildings (ECOB). This has promised to be the Ikea of housebuilding with the modular, flatpack concept. At one point the company was more enthusiastic about Albania than the Albanians were about Norman Wisdom. Nevertheless, the big orders came in most notably in the form of a £400m Chilean contract. Indeed, given how many houses both Angela Rayner and Sadiq Khan have promised, it is surprising that they have not given ECOB some business too. Indeed, even today we had an update on a Senegal JV, showing that even people there are more ahead of the curb than leading lights in the Labour party. Shares of ECOB peaked at 28p in November. It would be disappointing if we did not revisit this zone in Q1 2026.
Of course, we have seen another year of Russia / Ukraine, and another year when the stock market’s two favourite peace proxies Eurasia (EUA) and Ferrexpo (FXPO) could witness multi-bag rallies on news of a peace deal. This is actually not a bad binary bet, as we know that the London market is always good at over-factoring in the downside, and ignore the upside until it actually happens. Or in the case of East Star below, even after it happens.
The last time I wrote about KEFI (KEFI) in the stocks of the year I was insulted, and presumably the same will happen now. But it is worth celebrating the achievement of Executive Chairman Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, securing $340m in funding for Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia. This is even more so in him having to listen to all the crackpot commentary from clickbait motivated parties. One assumes that 2026 will be an excellent year for Harry and his company. Above recent 1.2p support, one would expect 2p October peaks to be revisited in the first quarter of the New Year.
We finish the list of stocks for 2026, with East Star (EST). This is another situation where a company was transformed over the course of the year. The big change was announced in mid November, with a $25m plus Strategic JV Agreement with Endeavour Mining for gold exploration in Kazakhstan. If this was my company and the shares had not at least tripled on the news I would have been rather disappointed. Of course, the London market being the London market the reaction of the shares to the upside for the Kazakhstan focused explorer / developer was slow and cautious. Nevertheless, as subsequent newsflow has underlined, there is little to be cautious about for the £15m market cap company. What was not appreciated in 2025, should be seen next year. 3 year highs for EST were 5p plus, versus the closing 3.25p, not a greedy target.
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest:
The information, investment views, and recommendations in this Zaks Traders Cafe interview are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this interview should be construed as a promotion or solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or referred to or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engage in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the commentator but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. The commentators may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.
