Ceres Power (LON: CWR) holds the largest net short position among UK stocks at 18.71% of issued capital, in the FCA report dated yesterday, the 3rd of November. Nine of the ten names were on the previous report, on the 27th of October, and Weir is the only new entrant. Three stocks saw positions fall: Vistry, Rightmove and Ibstock.

The top 10 most shorted UK stocks

1. Ceres Power: 18.71%

Ceres Power’s net short position is the largest in the list, at 18.71% against 18.69% in the previous report, a rise of 0.02 percentage points. It was also on the previous list.

2. Yellow Cake: 16.39%

Yellow Cake’s position rose 0.73 percentage points from 15.66%. The company has larger uranium holdings and a higher estimated net asset value (NAV, the value of its holdings) after a Kazatomprom delivery, and its board is monitoring the discount to NAV. Its next results are due on the 3rd of December.

3. Ibstock: 13.82%

Ibstock’s position eased 0.21 percentage points from 14.03%. The building products maker has a market value of about £318.6 million, with shares 46.9% below their 52-week high, 3.1% above the low and down 46% this year. The shares fell 10% on Monday after its second profit warning of the year.

4. Genuit: 13.10%

Genuit’s position rose 0.04 percentage points from 13.06%. Its market value is about £663 million, the shares are 25.3% below their 52-week high and down 12.9% this year.

5. Vistry: 12.94%

Vistry recorded the biggest fall in the list, down 0.99 percentage points from 13.93%. The housebuilder is worth about £805.5 million, with shares 61.5% below their 52-week high and down 55.8% this year.

6. Breedon: 12.37%

Breedon’s position rose 0.74 percentage points from 11.63%.

7. Crest Nicholson: 12.24%

Crest Nicholson’s position rose 0.30 percentage points from 11.94%, level with WH Smith. The housebuilder is worth about £162.8 million, with shares 61.7% below their 52-week high and down 54.9% this year.

8. WH Smith: 12.24%

WH Smith recorded the biggest increase in the list, up 1.05 percentage points from 11.19%. The retailer is worth about £642.9 million, with shares 38.1% below their 52-week high and down 32.3% this year. Results are due on the 12th of November.

9. Rightmove: 10.90%

Rightmove’s position fell 0.31 percentage points from 11.21%. The property portal is worth about £3.74 billion, with shares 18.5% below their 52-week high and up 5.1% this year.

10. Weir: 10.48%

Weir is the only new entrant, with a position of 10.48% against 10.09% in the previous report, a rise of 0.39 percentage points. The engineer is worth about £6.64 billion, with shares 25.2% below their 52-week high and down 6.8% this year.

How to read the numbers

The figures are the FCA’s disclosed net short positions as a percentage of issued capital, a snapshot as of the report on the 3rd of November, not live. Change is in percentage points against the previous report, on the 27th of October. High short interest describes positioning; it does not predict direction.

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Prudential (LON: PRU), the life insurer, closed at 944.2p yesterday, its seventh consecutive daily gain. The shares gained 1.2% on Tuesday, trading between 923.6p and 950.8p.

Volume was 9,279,519 shares against a 20-day average of 9,490,149, so activity was in line with normal. The company has a market value of £22.54bn.

The run was already under way last week: the same signal fired on Friday 30 October. The cause of the move is not clear.

How unusual this is

Seven sessions is a long run but not a record. The longest winning streak in Prudential’s price history, which starts in September 2021, is nine sessions. It ended on the 30th of October last year, so the current run sits two sessions short of it.

Still far from the high

Even after seven straight gains the shares remain 21.1% below their 52-week high. They stand 7.2% above their 52-week low and are down 15.9% so far this year.

Prudential is due to report its third-quarter new business figures on Thursday.

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BAE Systems (LON: BA.), the defence and aerospace group, fell 5.25% to 1,966p by 9 am in London today. The fall is already the second-largest one-day decline for the shares in about six months.

The shares traded between 1,953.5p and 2,053p by 9 am. At 1,966p, they sit 15.7% below their 52-week high and 22.2% above their 52-week low. Even after the fall, they are up 14.7% so far this year.

How unusual this is

Across the last 126 sessions, roughly six months of trading, today’s fall ranks second for BAE Systems. Only one session in that stretch saw a bigger one-day drop.

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MedPal AI (AIM: MPAL), the AI-native digital health and pharmacy group, said revenue from repeat orders at its New Health clinic more than doubled in October to £1.34m. The company gave the unaudited figures in a trading update at 7am today.

New Health, MedPal’s GLP-1 weight-management clinic, took October revenue to £3.63m from £2.73m in September, a rise of 33%, on 29,450 orders. Repeat revenue was £1.34m, or 37% of that, against £0.63m and 23% in September. In August, its first full month of trading, repeat revenue was about £0.1m.

Jason Drummond, Founder and CEO, put the shift in his own words:

New Health’s revenue grew again in October, increasing by a third month-on-month to over £3.6 million, and repeat orders are now the fastest growing part of our business: revenue from returning customers more than doubled in the month to £1.34 million and is up more than thirteen-fold since August.

Jason Drummond, Founder and CEO

The company said repeat orders carry no acquisition cost and average about 23% more per order than first orders. Re-orders came from 46% of New Health customers whose 28-day re-order fell due in October. It reported more than 53,000 customers since marketing began on the 1st of July, almost 20,000 of them new in October.

Group revenue was about £4.1m, against about £3.2m in September, including about £0.5m from NHS prescriptions and eMARx subscriptions. Repeat and recurring revenue was about £1.8m, or 45% of the total, from about 33% in September.

Multiplying October Group revenue by 12 gives the company’s pro forma run rate of over £49m, up from over £38m on the September figure. That is an annualised arithmetic exercise, not a forecast.

Cash, receivables and stock stood at about £6.2m on the 31st of October, down from about £6.4m on the 6th of October. About £2.0m of that was cash, including over £0.5m due from the card processor.

Talks on a working-capital facility, announced on the 21st of September and the 8th of October, are continuing, with indicative term sheets from several lenders. The company expects an expanded GLP-1 line at Sarus Court to open in late November, with dispensing capacity of 14,000 orders a day.

MedPal said the Group remains confident in continuing to deliver strong levels of growth. It added that no statement is intended as a profit forecast.

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The FTSE 100 was up 0.4% on Wednesday morning, while the FTSE 250 was flat. In commodities, spot gold rose 2.6% to $4,043, with other metals also climbing, resulting in mining stocks leading the large-cap index.

Fresnillo (LON: FRES) is up 4.02%, Endeavour Mining (LON: EDV) has gained 3.60% and Anglo American has climbed 2.56% so far this morning.

On the continent, the DAX has increased 0.4%, the CAC 40 has risen 0.5% and the Stoxx 50 has advanced 0.8%. The GBP rose 0.5% to $1.3480 against the US dollar.

Lion Finance Group (LON: BGEO) has gained 4.79% as it reported third-quarter profit up 21.0% to GEL 661.9m, with a further GEL 62m buyback.

Weir (LON: WEIR), the mining equipment maker, fell 6.77% despite keeping 2026 guidance. Its update showed orders up 8%, but some larger Minerals projects slipped into the fourth quarter and the Middle East conflict hit phosphate and dredging customers.

Metro Bank rose 7.47% as it reaffirmed all guidance. Trainline (LON: TRN) fell 4.69% on the day of half-year results, with revenue down 1% to £233m, though adjusted EBITDA rose 7% to £100m and guidance was maintained.

In the FTSE 250, Ceres Power rose 7.84%, Princes Group 4.65%, QinetiQ fell 4.37% and Goodwin 3.29%.

Elsewhere, Marks & Spencer reported its half-year results, Smith & Nephew posted its quarterly update, and Barratt Redrow also provided a trading update.

Backdrop: US midterms and Iran

Democrats have won both the US House and Senate. President Donald Trump said the Iran war and fuel prices played a part in Republican losses.

Tehran called the US reply to its seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz “unconvincing”. Brent is flat at $103.59 and WTI at $96.05.

AskTraders Stocks to Watch Today

These picks are AI-generated. This is not investment advice

Three stocks stand out based on Tuesday’s closing prices.

Drax (LSE: DRX) rose 6.61% to 862.5p, its largest daily gain in six months, on volume about 3.25 times average. The jump is attributed to the data centre partnership with Brookfield and Radiant at Drax Power Station. Watch whether the gain holds.

Prudential (LSE: PRU) rose 1.18% to 944.2p, its seventh straight gain. It is still 21.1% below its 52-week high and down 15.9% this year, so this looks like a recovery from a low base.

Elementis (LSE: ELM) closed at 191p, up 0.53%, after touching a new 52-week high of 196.09p during the session. Volume was light. Watch for a close above 195.4p.

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Gem Diamonds (LON: GEMD) reported third-quarter revenue of US$34.8m today, up from US$25.7m a year earlier, on 17,899 carats sold. The London-listed producer owns 70% of the Letšeng mine in Lesotho.

The trading update covers the three months from the 1st of July to the 30th of September. Carats sold fell 21.6% on our arithmetic, from 22,830 a year earlier, yet revenue rose 35% because the average price climbed to US$1,945 per carat from US$1,124, a rise of 73%.

Large stones did the work. Four diamonds that each sold for more than US$1.0m contributed US$22.2m of the quarter’s revenue. Two stones above 100 carats were sold, including the 347 carat Lesotho Jubilee, a white Type II diamond recovered in the second quarter.

Chief executive Clifford Elphick said the September sales and the Jubilee were encouraging for demand:

Sales of Letšeng’s rough diamonds in September achieved good prices, with results further supported by the sale of the exceptional 347 carat Lesotho Jubilee. These results are encouraging indicators that demand and prices for Letšeng quality diamonds are firm.

Clifford Elphick, CEO, Gem Diamonds

Production was softer. Carats recovered fell about 13% to 19,299 from 22,268, and the grade, the carats found per hundred tonnes of ore treated, slipped to 1.42 from 1.69.

Despite that, the company raised its full-year guidance, citing strong operational performance and cost containment. Carats recovered are now expected at 78,000 to 80,000 (previously 75,000 to 78,000) and carats sold at 79,000 to 81,000 (previously 77,000 to 80,000). Operating costs fall to 305 to 315 Maloti, Lesotho’s currency, per tonne treated from 310 to 325, and capital spending to US$0.34m to US$0.45m from US$1.0m to US$1.5m.

The royalty now has a new basis. Letšeng’s royalty remission, a temporary waiver of payments, ran to the end of September. The Government of Lesotho has approved a variable rate of 3% to 6%, set on the six-monthly average dollar per carat, for sales after the 1st of October. Elphick called it a good policy decision for the mine’s long-term sustainability.

Financing is unresolved. The group’s revolving credit facilities expire on the 21st of December. Commercial terms for renewal are still being finalised with lenders Nedbank and Standard Bank, and the refinancing is not yet concluded.

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Foresight Solar Fund (LON: FSFL) reported an unaudited net asset value of 93.8p per share at the 30th of September, down 1.1p from 94.9p at the 30th of June. The London-listed company owns solar and battery storage assets, mainly in the UK, with some in Spain and Australia.

Total NAV was £511.1m, against £517.9m three months earlier. The NAV is a valuation of the portfolio, not a share price. The two largest items in the fall were 2.0p of dividends and a 1.8p hit from higher discount rates, the rates used to turn future cash flows into today’s value.

Higher government bond yields pushed the UK levered solar discount rate up 25bp to 8.50%, and the Spanish rate up 50bp to 7.78%. The valuation is therefore sensitive to yields, even in a quarter when operations ran ahead.

Several items offset part of the damage. Time value added 2.2p, while power price forecasts and inflation assumptions each added 0.5p. UK RPI and CPI assumptions for 2026 rose to 4.5% and 3.5%. Project actuals added 0.2p, and other movements cost 0.7p, including working capital, buybacks, currency and a £3m provision for interest on tax payments.

Operations were strong. Generation in the quarter was 9.8% above budget, with the UK and Australia outweighing a weaker Spain, and the UK realised power price of £74.78/MWh was 16.9% above budget. Some 81% of 2026 revenues are contracted. Debt was £382.4m, or 42.8% of gross asset value, from 43.0% at the end of June.

A consultation opened last Wednesday on a Wholesale Contract for Difference, a voluntary scheme with a fixed strike price. Yesterday a second consultation covered replacing tradable Renewables Obligation certificates with a centrally determined, inflation-linked price from April 2028. The Investment Manager is assessing how both interact with hedging, revenue certainty and shareholder returns.

On disposals, the Investment Manager is progressing targeted sales, and one negotiation has moved into exclusivity. The Company said it will update the market in due course.

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Weir (LON: WEIR), the mining equipment and aftermarket group, said group orders rose 8% in the third quarter and that it remains on track to meet current market expectations for 2026. The update, for the quarter to 30 September, came earlier today.

Shares are down 4% today after closing yesterday at 2630p, down 1.28% from Monday’s 2664p. That is 26.5% below the 52-week intraday high of 3580p set on the 26th of February, 16.7% above the June low of 2254p, and below both the 50-day (2666p) and 200-day (2754p) averages.

On a constant currency basis, Weir said aftermarket orders, the repeat business tied to equipment already in use, rose 10%, of which acquisitions added 3 points. Original equipment orders, for new machinery, rose 3%. ESCO aftermarket orders climbed 14% (10% organic), with mining ground engaging tools and Software Solutions strong, and oil sands and gold strong in North America. Coal, predominantly in Indonesia, was a partial drag.

The weak spot was ESCO original equipment, down 24% as large bucket and truck body orders were phased after a strong first half. In Minerals, delays pushed some larger projects into the fourth quarter. Year-to-date book-to-bill, orders against sales, was 1.10.

Weir also flagged headwinds. The Middle East conflict lifted oil prices and oil sands demand, but hurt phosphate customers, about 4% of group revenue, which are reducing production, with sulphur and ammonia affected. Dredging was reduced with about 90% of large barges in port, and Chile suffered extreme weather in July and August.

Chief executive Andrew Neilson described the quarter this way:

Our performance in the third quarter reflects good underlying momentum in our core mining markets, with customers looking to maximise production in a supportive commodity environment.

Andrew Neilson, Weir

Weir said Performance Excellence savings have reached £80m cumulatively, against a £90m target for 2026. It expects net debt to end the year slightly above its normal range of 0.5 to 1.5 times EBITDA, returning within it during 2027, with net interest expense of about £90m.

The company is guiding to growth in constant currency revenue and operating profit this year, an operating margin above 20% and strong cash conversion, with delivery of its large aftermarket backlog in the fourth quarter the key task.

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Barratt Redrow (LON: BTRW), the UK housebuilder formed when Barratt bought Redrow, kept its guidance for the year to the 30th of June 2027 this morning while reporting softer private demand. Its underlying private reservation rate, the weekly pace of buyer reservations, slipped to 0.53 from 0.57.

Shares closed yesterday at 319.0p, down 4.7% from 334.6p on Monday, about 20% below the 12-month closing high of 400.6p and about 32% above the closing low of 241.2p on the 19th of May. So far this morning, BTRW is up 0.3%.

The update covers the 17 weeks from the 29th of June to the 25th of October. The forward order book, including joint ventures, edged up to £3,315.4m, or 11,086 homes, from £3,281.4m and 10,669 a year earlier. Completions including joint ventures fell to 3,223 from 3,665. Wholly owned completion guidance still centres on 17,100 homes.

Chief executive Dean Banks described trading in the period this way:

Our trading performance in the first 17 weeks of the financial year has been resilient against a backdrop of challenging market conditions, with continued pressure on affordability. While the underlying private reservation rate has been softer, we have seen stronger demand from the private rental sector.

Dean Banks, Barratt Redrow

The headline rate rose to 0.59 from 0.57 because private rental sector and other multi-unit sales added 0.06, against nil a year earlier, while the underlying rate fell. Forward sales cover 56% of FY27 private completions, against 60%.

Of the forward-sold private homes, 62% have completed or exchanged, against 64%. Average outlets, or selling sites, edged up to 406 from 402.

The company said it is too early to assess the impact of the Government’s Your First Home scheme on first-time buyer activity in this financial year. The AGM is at 11am today.

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Coca-Cola HBC (LON: CCH), the Coca-Cola bottler, raised its 2026 organic revenue growth guidance this morning after third-quarter organic revenue rose 9.0%, but left profit guidance unchanged. Reported revenue grew 9.6%, to €3,503.2m from €3,197.2m a year earlier.

The shares closed yesterday at 4,766p, down 0.87% from 4,808p on Monday, leaving them 6.3% below the 5,085p close on 28 July and 13.3% above the 4,206p close on 1 October.

Full-year organic revenue growth is now expected to come in slightly above a range of 6% to 7%. Previously the company guided to around the top end of that range. Organic EBIT growth is still guided at 8% to 10%.

Chief executive Zoran Bogdanovic said the group enters the final quarter well placed despite an uncertain economic backdrop.

We are pleased to have delivered another strong quarter, with organic revenues increasing 9.0%.

Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO, Coca-Cola HBC

Volume rose 5.4% to 870.9m unit cases from 826.4m, with Sparkling up 4.5% and Energy up 24.7%. Revenue per case rose 3.4% on pricing and mix. The company cited FIFA World Cup activations, Coke Zero, Monster and Western Europe weather. All three segments grew, led by Emerging markets and Nigeria. The split by segment is below.

Emerging markets grew fastest on volume, while Developing relied more on price and mix.

There were soft spots. Ukraine volume fell by more than 20% on supply-chain disruption from early September, Poland Stills declined by double digits and Romania fell by a low single-digit rate. The fourth quarter also has four fewer selling days.

Rival bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners reported yesterday and kept its guidance unchanged, at revenue growth of 3% to 4% and operating profit growth of about 7%, after FX-neutral revenue rose 5.8%. Its figures are not like-for-like with Coca-Cola HBC’s.

This is a top-line upgrade only. Full-year results follow on the 18th of February.

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Zotefoams (LON: ZTF), the London-based maker of high-performance foams, said today that third-quarter organic revenue fell 7% to £35.6m as footwear sales dropped by more than it had anticipated. The trading update came at 7am, before the market opened.

Group revenue for the quarter to the 30th of September was £41.8m, up 9% from £38.2m a year earlier. That growth came only from OKC, an Oklahoma foam manufacturer bought in November 2025, which added £6.2m. Organic revenue, which strips out acquisitions, was down.

Footwear revenue was £9.3m, against £17.6m in the third quarter of 2025. For the nine months it was £37.7m, against £54.6m. Zotefoams had flagged a decline, but the company said the quarter’s reduction was greater than it had anticipated.

Elsewhere the picture was stronger. Non-footwear sales grew 28% organically, led by North America, up 33%, and now make up 72% of revenue for the year to date, against 53% a year earlier. Cash conversion, the share of profit turned into cash, was 93% in the quarter. Leverage was 1.0x, up from 0.5x a year earlier. On the 13th of October the company bought Verttec, a Pennsylvania maker of technical foams, for an initial $5.1m.

Group chief executive Ronan Cox acknowledged the footwear slide while pointing to the company’s trials of a new production site in Vietnam:

While footwear revenue has declined, the transition is progressing, with first-stage trials under way in Vietnam. The strategic development of the Group is establishing a stronger, more resilient and scalable platform, and we remain confident in our medium-term ambitions.

Ronan Cox, Group CEO

The board expects full-year adjusted profit before tax in line with market expectations, which the company puts at £26.3m on its own compilation. Second-half margins will be lower than the first half, with lower footwear volumes adding to the usual seasonal pattern.

Consultation on UK restructuring is expected to conclude in November, with annual savings of about £4m from 2027 if the plans go ahead. Vietnam customer approvals are expected around the end of 2026, and the next update is due on the 21st of January 2027.

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Smith+Nephew (LSE: SN), a FTSE 100 constituent, has cut its full-year guidance, with trading profit growth now expected at around 4% rather than around 8%. It blamed the outlook for US hip and knee implants in the fourth quarter.

Underlying revenue growth is now seen at around 3%, down from around 4%. Trading profit is forecast at around $1.25bn rather than $1.3bn, and free cash flow at around $750m rather than $800m.

We have revised our full-year guidance to reflect the slower growth in US Orthopaedics, which we expect to continue through the fourth quarter. Despite this, we remain confident in delivering profit growth ahead of revenue growth, together with strong free cash flow and cash conversion.

Deepak Nath, chief executive of Smith+Nephew

Third-quarter revenue, for the quarter ended 26 September, rose to $1,551m from $1,501m a year earlier, up 3.4% on an underlying basis and faster than in the second quarter.

Sports Medicine & ENT led with $507m, up 7.9%, helped by 11.2% growth in Joint Repair. Advanced Wound Management slipped 0.2% to $454m, as Bioactives fell 8.8% after changes to skin substitute reimbursement at the start of 2026. The company said the market was adapting more slowly than it had anticipated.

Orthopaedics grew 2.5% to $590m, but US knee implants fell 7.3% and US hips 1.0%. The company cited business lost in earlier periods, market softness and a shift to cementless knees, and said hip sales were held back by the pace of deploying its CATALYSTEM hip system. Outside the US, knees rose 4.0% and hips 6.0%.

The company also responded to press comment about a possible combination of its Orthopaedics business with the DePuy Synthes unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). It confirmed it approached J&J earlier this year and that discussions took place, but said they have now ended. The board has considered strategic options for Orthopaedics for some months and will keep exploring them.

A $500m share buyback announced on 6 May is half done, with $250m completed by the end of the quarter. An analyst call is due at midday today, and full-year results follow on 1 March.

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