However, one stock did jump out at me due to its share price momentum. Believe it or not, this name has outperformed Micron, Marvell, AMD, and a ton of other red-hot growth stocks this year.

An introduction to Hardide shares

The stock I want to highlight today is Hardide (LSE: HDD). It’s a small UK company that provides advanced tungsten carbide/tungsten metal matrix composite coatings that increase the life of critical metal parts in abrasive, erosive, corrosive, and chemically aggressive environments.

It currently trades for around 78p, meaning that £1,000 buys 1,282 shares (ignoring commissions and trading spreads). At today’s share price, its market-cap is about £60m.

Why is the share price soaring?

Now, as mentioned above, this stock has some serious share price momentum at the moment. Since the start of December, it’s risen over 1,000%.

As for what’s driving this momentum, its contract wins from a customer in North America in the energy space. The first came in early December and was worth $1.75m. There were then two deals in February, worth $1m and £1.8m respectively.

In April, there was a deal worth £1.8m. Then, in May a deal worth £2.4m was announced.

Note that management advised that this latter deal will “materially improve” revenue and overall financial performance expectations for FY26.

Strong results

Looking beyond all these orders, Hardide also produced a fantastic set of first-half results in May. Here, revenue (for the six months to 31 March) was £4.8m versus £2.8m a year earlier, while basic earnings per share was 1.6p versus -0.1p.

Insider buying

One other thing to note is that the company has seen some insider buying this year. Back in February, four directors (including the CEO and the finance director) scooped up shares (a bullish signal).

Is there an opportunity here?

Is this penny stock worth a look today? Potentially. It’s obviously high risk. Right now, a large chunk of the company’s revenues are coming from one customer so concentration risk’s sky-high (if this customer was to disappear, growth could stall).

Meanwhile, after a 1,000%+ share price rise since December, there’s a high chance of some profit-taking at some point. Buying after that kind of gain is risky.

Yet the fact that this energy customer has been continually coming back for more suggests that Hardide has a strong offer. It’s clearly doing something right.

And there is a lot of industrial construction going on in the US today (data centres, energy infrastructure etc). So demand for metal coatings could remain robust.

Weighing up the risk versus reward, I think Hardide shares could be worth considering as a high-risk speculative play. Sized properly (ie less than 2% of a portfolio), they could have potential.

Should you invest £5,000 in Hardide right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Hardide made the list?

Edward Sheldon does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned

The post £1,000 buys 1,282 shares in this red-hot penny stock that’s lighting up the LSE appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

That’s certainly proven to be true in 2026. Most investors are still fixated on AI darlings like Nvidia. And with the tech giant up a further 11.8% since the start of the year, people are making money. But compare that to the 278.3% gain of Hardide (LSE:HDD) shares, and it’s the smart investors not following the crowd who are making even more.

Just to put this into money terms, a £1,000 investment in Nvidia at the start of 2026 is now worth, £1,118. The same investment in Hardide’s worth closer to £3,783.

So why is this penny stock skyrocketing? And is it too late to buy?

What does Hardide actually do?

Hardide’s not some flashy AI name. It’s a specialist in advanced tungsten carbide coatings that protect metal components from extreme wear, erosion and corrosion in brutal environments.

By using its patented chemical vapour deposition (CVD) coatings, the company extends the life of high-value parts and components used in industries such as energy, aerospace, power generation, flow control and precision engineering.

In simple terms, Hardide helps heavy-duty equipment last longer and perform better, reducing downtime and ultimately saving its European and North American customers money.

So why the sudden share price fireworks?

In March, Hardide said it expects first-half 2026 revenue of about £4.5m, more than 50% ahead of the £2.8m it posted a year earlier. At the same time, EBITDA was set to jump to around £1.3m versus £0.4m, implying operating margins of roughly 20%.

For a business that has historically struggled to turn a profit, that was a big step up, sparking investor enthusiasm. Skip ahead to May, and not only did the company deliver on its promises, but it also exceeded them. Revenue reached £4.8m, while EBITDA landed at £1.6m, placing operating margins at 26.8%, driven by a continued string of new contract wins.

Can this penny stock keep flying?

Hardide is finally starting to scale its technology across multiple high-value industries, with strong growth in revenue, margins and order visibility. If it can keep converting pilot projects into long-term production contracts, its earnings could continue to grow much faster than the broad market.

But, as with most penny stocks, the risks are huge. Hardide’s still a micro-cap worth only around £55m, and its success is heavily tied to a small number of big customers. Any delay, cancellation or technical setback on a key contract could hit both profits and investor confidence hard.

That’s particularly true given that today’s valuation is currently being driven by the expectations that recent performance will continue to accelerate.

However, this nonetheless remains an intriguing story. Hardide has delivered the kind of performance most penny stock investors dream about. And, more crucially, it’s doing it off the back of real contracts and rapidly improving financials rather than just pure hype.

I certainly wouldn’t bet my house on it, but for risk-tolerant investors willing to accept serious volatility, this could be one of the most exciting UK penny stocks to dig into right now.

Should you invest £5,000 in Hardide right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Hardide made the list?

Zaven Boyrazian does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.

The post Meet the 69p penny stock that’s obliterated Nvidia in 2026! appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.