James Gard: Now investors generally gravitate towards new and exciting themes and companies. Witness the current euphoria over AI and Nvidia. But there are industries that tend to occupy the unglamorous middle lane while doing perfectly well for investors. Our latest stock of the week, Ashtead, could be described as one of these. Unlike most modern companies, it’s relatively easy to explain what it does: it leases industrial equipment to companies in the UK, Canada and the US. For example, it rents power equipment to TV and film studios. Under Joe Biden the country is spending more than a trillion dollars on infrastructure projects. And that has driven demand for Ashtead, which is number two in this key market. There were some chunky revenue gains in the most recent quarter and Ashtead continues to expand in the US with nine recent acquisitions.
The UK is a weaker spot, however, and Ashtead has cut its revenue forecasts here for the rest of the year. With all the headline numbers moving in the right direction in this quarter, it was surprising to see shares take a tumble, especially as the full-year earnings outlook was left unchanged. Some minor issues may have unnerved investors used to stellar performance for Ashtead. Still shares are up 10% this year roughly and this follows a very strong run since 2020. Shares are trading slightly above their fair value estimate of £43.50, according to Morningstar metrics. Some analysts have price targets considerably higher. It’s still early in the company’s financial year so a lot depends on the resilience of the US economy heading into next year. For Morningstar, I’m James Gard.