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£5,000 invested in this red hot FTSE 250 growth stock last month is now worth…

Mark Hartley likes the look of a British tech stock that’s driving massive growth on the FTSE 250. But are the potential rewards worth the risks?

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The top-performing FTSE 250 stock over the past month was Rasperry Pi Holdings (LSE: RPI), up a mindboggling 86%. For comparison, the UK’s growth darling Rolls-Royce has barely moved in the past month.

That means a £5,000 investment just one month ago would be worth £9,300 today — a huge £4,300 profit.

XXX

So what’s driving the outsized growth and more importantly: have new investors missed the boat or is it still worth considering?

An up-and-coming tech gem

Rasperry Pi is a newly listed FTSE 250 tech share that designs low‑cost single‑board computers and chips used in everything from hobbyist projects to industrial kit.

Based in Cambridge, it sells to educators, enthusiasts, and professional customers in areas like industrial internet‑of‑things and embedded systems.

In simple terms, it makes the tiny brains that sit inside lots of gadgets and control systems.

The latest full‑year results, for 2025, showed the business still growing briskly. Sales rose 22% while net profit almost doubled.

Management highlighted a 9% rise in shipments to 7.8m units and a 25% jump in EBITDA, helped by better margins and a richer product mix. They also pointed to particularly strong demand from the US and China and a growing semiconductor division, which now sells more chips than boards.

Sounds like a business on track for success. But what do the experts think?

Broker analysis

After such a rally, City broker consensus gives it a Hold rating with a 12‑month target of around 390p — a 32% decrease from today’s price.

That may look pessimistic but is simply the result of the price rallying far ahead of expectations.

Still, many analysts give it a Buy rating, with the highest eyeing a price target around 576p. Big banks including HSBC and Jefferies have started and updated coverage since the IPO, reflecting how quickly the investment story is evolving.

Recent numbers and valuation

Here’s a snapshot of the current set‑up.

  • 2025 revenue: $323.2m
  • Earnings per share (EPS): 8p
  • Net margin: around 6.68%
  • Market value: roughly £1.14bn

But valuation is my key concern. Some estimates put the shares on a forward price‑to‑earnings ratio (P/E) above 68 times — extremely high by normal standards. 

That means investors are banking on excessive earnings growth. If the company fails to deliver, it could suffer heavy capital outflow and a share price collapse.

So the key risks that new investors should consider include:

  • Cyclical demand for computer hardware and chips
  • Exposure to global supply chains and major export markets such as the US and China
  • Execution risk as the company leans further into higher‑margin semiconductors

Long story short, this isn’t a stable income pick — it’s your typical high risk/high reward tech play.

The bottom line?

For growth-hungry investors with a high risk appetite, Raspberry Pi looks worth considering. If you believe it can keep growing sales and profits strongly for many years, the premium price might prove justified.

However, if you prefer fairer-value, dividend‑paying names, it may not be for you. However, it’s certainly an exciting development for the UK tech industry and one I’ll be keeping a close eye on.

HSBC Holdings is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Mark Hartley has positions in HSBC Holdings. The Motley Fool UK has recommended HSBC Holdings, Raspberry Pi Plc, and Rolls-Royce Plc. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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