We have some exciting news to share! The Motley Fool UK has now become The Twelfth Magpie -- an independent, UK-owned company, led by our long-serving UK management team — Mark Rogers, Chris Nials and Heather Adlington. In practical terms, it’s the same team you know, now fully focused on serving our UK readers and members.

Just as importantly, our approach remains unchanged: long-term, jargon-free, and on your side. This site is our new home, and there will be extra tweaks made across the coming few days as we settle in. So if anything looks a little off, please bear with us!

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

Just released: our 3 top income-focused stocks to buy before October [PREMIUM PICKS]

Our goal here is to highlight some of our past recommendations that we think are of particular interest today, due to a combination of business performance and potentially attractive share valuation.

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Premium content from Motley Fool Share Advisor UK

Our monthly Ice Best Buys Now are designed to highlight our team’s three favourite, most timely Buys from our growing list of income-focused Ice recommendations, to help Fools build out their portfolios.

“Best Buys Now” Pick #1:

BAE Systems (LSE: BA.)

  • BAE Systems as well as the entire European defence shares has been consolidated for 6 months while the tailwind to increased defence expenditures amid rising geopolitical strife will continue for several years.
  • U.S. Army has awarded BAE a $440 million contract in September to produce additional Bradley Fighting Vehicles to replace the ones the government had already sent to Ukraine.
  • BAE Systems has lifted its full-year guidance following a significant increase in underlying sales and earnings for the first half of the year. For FY24, a 10%-12% surge in sales is projected.
  • Underlying earnings per share are expected to grow by 7% to 9%, up from the earlier guidance of 6% to 8%. Additionally, the company anticipates free cash flow exceeding £1.5bn, up from the previous target of more than £1.3bn.
  • CEO Charles Woodburn stated that the company will continue investing in new technologies, facilities, and human capital to maintain its record order backlog and help government customers stay ahead in an uncertain world.

“Best Buys Now” Pick #2:

Redacted

Should you buy BAE Systems shares today?

Before you decide, please take a moment to review this report first. Despite ongoing uncertainties from US tariffs to global conflicts, Mark Rogers and his team believe many UK shares still trade at substantial discounts, offering savvy investors plenty of potential opportunities to learn about.

That’s why this could be an ideal time to secure this valuable research – Mark’s analysts have scoured the markets to reveal 5 of his favourite long-term ‘Buys’. Please, don’t make any big decisions before seeing them.

The Motley Fool UK has recommended BAE Systems plc. Hayes Chan CFA owns shares of BAE Systems plc.

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