George and Ian take comfort from FY25 trading updates but look forward to a year in which reality may bite back.

Trading updates from Raspberry Pi, and news flow from Intel and Samsung, remind us that things rarely happen as smoothly or as predictably in real world tech as is hoped – particularly in semiconductors.

Computacenter’s update has confirmed George’s view on hardware sales and serves as another illustration that cash flow matters and should not be taken for granted.

Looking to the US the traditional SaaS stocks are underperforming, dragged down by the question of what AI does to them and, importantly, software pricing. No sign of the market asking these fundamental questions of the UK stocks just yet.

Ian and George wish ChatGPT a Happy Birthday before cantering through recent UK small tech updates.

ActiveOps – going well but could short term brokers and metric obsessed fund managers stop this little gem from reaching its full potential

Cerillion – a pause for breath year, still well positioned, cash generative with excellent margins

GBG – it is going to be hard work but the management look to be up to the challenge

Then, looking to Autodesk, George considers changing charging / accounting models when faced with AI and difficult wider economics – doesn’t the market see right through this?

George and Ian catch up on the news and events affecting UK-listed tech companies.

George and Ian consider Sage’s recent full-year results and where it can go from here. Its cloud-based US acquisition Intacct, has shown what can be done, but is Sage condemned to a life in the slow lane by its parochial home market’s love of yield and misunderstanding of growth.

They also ponder the challenges that the new CEO faces at Tracsis. Not least of which, in a similar theme to Sage, is its technical debt. Although it’s worth remembering its customer base, which might be more suited to a legacy approach after all.

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