Gooch & Housego – up 60% in two months, now lasering to doubled profits in two years, AGM Update next week, shares 740p, TP 790p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 20.02.2026

Two and half months ago, on Tuesday 2^nd December 2025, I featured the shares of Gooch & Housego (LON:GHH), the photonics technology group.

It was then capitalised at £134m, with its shares standing at 512p.

Two months later, they peaked at 818p, a near 60% gain, since when they have eased back to 708p on the back of profit-taking.

However, by the middle of this week, they were back up to 780p, before closing at 740p yesterday.

Not only do we see a nervous share price movement, but also some ‘backing and filling’ ahead of corporate news due next Friday, 27^th February.

It is on that day that the now £190m-capitalised company will be holding its AGM for the year to end-September 2025.

That was a good year for the specialist group, especially as it is now showing a significant move to deriving over a third of its revenues from the all-important Aerospace & Defence sector.

The Business

Gooch & Housego is based in Ilminster, Somerset, with operations in the USA and Europe.

It is a world leader in its field, which is the researching, designing, engineering, and manufacturing of advanced photonic systems, components, and instrumentation for applications in the Aerospace & Defence, Industrial, Life Sciences, and Scientific Research sectors.

Industrial and Telecom –

The group designs and manufactures submodules and module assemblies according to customer specifications.

It is recognised as a world-class, vertically integrated, custom-designed photonics supplier across all of its industrial applications.

Its leadership in the design and manufacture of custom optical solutions has established it as a preferred source for OEMs in industry, subsea communications, and energy.

Aerospace and Defence –

Mission-critical technology demands uncompromising precision, absolute reliability, and close partnerships with suppliers.

For more than seven decades, GHH has delivered proven optical solutions for aerospace, avionics, and defence platforms, including ruggedised commercial photonic components, build-to-print products, and full-scale development of customised solutions.

The group is recognised for the breadth of its acousto-optic, electro-optic, crystal-optic, fibre optic, and precision optic products.

Life Sciences –

As a vertically integrated supplier of optics, modules, and subassemblies, the group is uniquely positioned to support scalable manufacturing, documented quality control, and security of supply.

It also supports medical innovation through its contract design and manufacturing capabilities by partnering with leading pharmaceutical and medical device innovators to develop lifesaving diagnostic, analytical, and drug-delivery devices.

In May 2025, the group made a somewhat pivotal acquisition paying $17.5m for Global Photonics, the Tampa, Florida-based company that supplies optical systems for military land applications, including periscopes and fire-control systems, as well as instrumentation for air platforms and other advanced precision optics.

Management Comment

The early December Finals announcement saw CEO Charlie Peppiatt state that:

"I am delighted with the substantial progress the Group has made in FY2025.

Our operational performance has shown sustained improvement and resilience in the face of a complex and uncertain macroeconomic environment, with unprecedented supply chain and tariff challenges.

This is a testament to the positive progress the Group is making with the deployment of our strategy to deliver sustainable growth and to the quality of our workforce.

With our growing order book and differentiated photonics expertise aligned to markets with structural growth from megatrends, we remain confident in our ability to deliver further progress."

The Equity

There are some 25.79m shares in issue.

The larger holders include Odyssean Capital (12.73%), Investec Wealth & Investment (5.07%), Franklin Templeton Fund Management (3.77%), Octopus Investments (1.34%), Unicorn Asset Management (1.30%), Teviot Partners (0.53%), RBC Europe (0.41%), West Yorkshire Pension Fund (0.19%), Canaccord Genuity Wealth (0.15%) and River Global Investors (0.12%).

Broker Views

Some five analysts follow the group, all of whom are calling the shares as a Buy.

The consensus average Target Price is 742p, while the lowest calls for 680p and the Highest for 800p a share.

Analysts Henry Carver and Caroline de La Soujeole, at Singer Capital Markets, have a 790p Target Price on the stock.

Their estimates for the current year to end-September 2026, are for £170.2m (£150.5m) of revenues, with adjusted pre-tax profits of £16.6m (£9.9m), generating earnings of 47.9p (27.1p) and paying out a dividend of 13.60p (13.20p) per share.

For 2027 they see £187.7m sales, £19.4m profits, 54.1p of earnings and a 14.0p dividend.

Looking even further ahead, their estimates suggest 2028 turnover of £195.4m, with £21.5m profits, 59.6p of earnings per share and a 14.42p dividend.

In My View

By this time next week, the group’s AGM Trading Update could well have displayed some real positivity about the current year’s Trading, while also putting a figure on its current Order Book, which was last stated at £142.4m (36% up on the previous year), some 80% of which is billable this year.

The shares, now at 740p, could soon break through the 800p barrier.

(Profile 09.12.24 @ 490p set a Target Price of 600p*)

(Profile 11.10.25 @ 586p set a new Target Price of 680p*)