Shares in British chip designer Arm soared yesterday as it cashed in on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom.
In its best trading day since its New York debut last year, the Cambridge-based group rose more than 60 percent to an all-time high of $126 before falling back to around the $116 mark, which it was still 50 percent. up in the day.
Its value has more than doubled since it rejected London for a Nasdaq listing at $51 a share in September.
It is now worth close to £100bn, cementing its status as one of the few British tech giants dominating the world.
But its success will rub salt in the City’s wounds after a campaign to convince it to list in London fell on deaf ears.
AI Winner: In its best trading day since its New York debut last year, Arm, the Cambridge-based chip designer, rose more than 60% to an all-time high of $126.
Victoria Scholar, analyst at Interactive Investor, said: ‘For the UK market and those who pushed hard to entice Arm to list on the London Stock Exchange, the stellar results and share price reaction are a tough call. bang.
“The London listed market continues to suffer from a chronic lack of interesting technology prospects, contributing to the underperformance of the FTSE 100 against the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.”
Founded in 1990, Arm has long been hailed as a UK tech darling, designing microchips used in billions of smartphones and other devices.
It was listed on both the FTSE 100 and Nasdaq before being taken private by Japan’s SoftBank in a £26bn deal in 2016.
When he returned to the stock market last year, he chose New York despite lobbying from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the London Stock Exchange.
Investors rejoiced yesterday when Arm CEO René Haas said the company was benefiting from the “profound opportunity” brought by AI.
The company’s revenue hit £653m in the three months to the end of December, up 14 per cent year-on-year and well above estimates of £605m.
The technology company also raised its full-year revenue forecast from between £2.35 billion and £2.46 billion to between £2.5 billion and £2.54 billion.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Arm “ruined the forecasts”.
Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell, said: “UK investors who are upset that Cambridge-based chip champion ARM has not returned to the London stock market will see that sentiment magnified by the latest update from the company”.
The update came amid much soul-searching in the City of London following a series of recent snubs.
Last week, gaming giant Flutter said it will move its “main” listing from London to New York, while travel company Tui will vote next week on whether to move its listing to Frankfurt.
Building materials supplier CRH and plumbing group Ferguson have also chosen to relocate to New York.