It has been a long while since I saw penny share Creo Medical (LSE:CREO) top the FTSE AIM All-Share Index. But that is indeed what happened earlier today (22 May) when the stock jumped 29% to 15p.
Let’s take a closer look at what caused this sudden spike, and whether Creo might be worth considering.
What does it do?
For those unfamiliar, Creo is a medical device company that specialises in the field of minimally invasive surgical endoscopy, with a strong focus on treating pre-cancer and cancer patients.
Put simply, the small-cap firm’s technology allows doctors to perform complex procedures inside the body using flexible tubes (endoscopes). Its core innovation is an advanced energy platform that combines two types of energy through a single connection.
For the record, I own a small position in the stock, and it’s even smaller today after dropping 50% in the past two years. Partly this is because investors have soured on unprofitable small caps like Creo as interest rates have stayed higher for longer.
Why’s Creo taking off like a speedboat?
There are three things that have sent the stock surging today. Firstly, Creo raised £5.5m by placing 36.7m new shares at 15p each. Crucially, this represented a big premium to the previous day’s closing stock price.
Company directors also personally put up £2.15m of this amount, signalling strong confidence in the firm’s commercial potential. They would know better than anyone else, after all.
Second, the firm announced a non-binding agreement to sell its remaining 49% stake in Creo Medical Europe (a supplier of third-party medical devices and consumables). It got £24.7m for selling the other 51% last year.
Finally, the company delivered strong results for 2025. Revenue jumped 50% to £6m, with momentum building in the second half.
The underlying operating loss reduced by 38.5% to £13.7m, which management put down to revenues scaling “against a significantly lower cost base“.
The good momentum continued into the start of 2026, with revenue increasing around 60% in the first quarter. This gave management the confidence to raise full-year revenue growth guidance to 50%-60% (up from 40%-60%).
We exited 2025 with strong operational and commercial momentum, driven by the validation of our core product range, progress across our pipeline of new devices and increasing clinical adoption.
CEO Craig Gulliford
Worth a look?
Before today, analysts were expecting 2026 revenue of £9.23m, with losses progressively narrowing over the next three years. The good news is that Creo should have quite a bit of cash on the balance sheet moving forward, allowing it to focus on getting more hospitals to adopt its medical tools.
Speaking of which, its SpydrBlade Flex device has been approved, joining its flagship Speedboat product. The latter is already being used commercially in major global markets, showing strong growth in upper gastrointestinal procedures.
Is the stock worth considering? Well, it’s certainly high risk due to the lack of profits. But a market cap of £61m gives the stock a forward-looking price-to-sales ratio of around 6, which isn’t high for a fast-growing company.
With the stock still down 50% from two years ago, today’s run might have legs, making it worth a look for risk-takers. Me? I’m going to keep holding because I think it will recover in time.
Should you invest £5,000 in Creo Medical Group Plc right now?
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Ben McPoland owns shares in Creo Medical.
