However, the UKs home to some cracking, lesser-known growth companies. Here are two I think deserve a closer look today.

Wise

Let’s start with the largest, Wise (LSE:WISE). The international money transfer specialist has a £10.8bn market-cap, but rather than try join the FTSE 100, it’s moving its primary listing to the US.

However, it will keep a secondary listing in London, where each share currently costs 1,050p. This puts the stock on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26.5.

I don’t think that’s outrageous for a company that did the following last year:

• Grew underlying income 19% on a constant currency basis to £1,619m.
• Increased cross-border volume 25% to £181.7bn.
• Grew customers 21% to 18.9m.
• Guided for pre-tax profit margin to be towards 16%.

Looking ahead, the growth engine still seems very strong to me. As well as people, more businesses are signing up to use Wise, whose infrastructure makes cross-border transactions cheaper and faster. Some 75% of transfers are now instant.

Plus, Wise is lowering the take rate as it scales. While some investors might not like this because it’s sacrificing short-term profitability, it should place Wise in a much stronger competitive position over the long run.

And as a long-term investor, that’s what I’m interested in.

However, in the near term, the situation in the Middle East represents a risk to growth. If soaring inflation and energy costs tip the global economy into a downturn, then it’s possible less people and businesses will move money around.

Despite this risk, I’m happy to have Wise as a top-10 position in my portfolio. The stock’s up 21.5% year to date, but I still think it’s worth considering anywhere near £10.

Boku

Turning to Boku (LSE:BOKU) now, this is a much smaller company, with a £525m market-cap. Despite its modest size, Boku works with the world’s largest merchants, helping them drive sales in more than 60 countries through local payment methods (LPMs).

For example, let’s say someone in Thailand wants to subscribe to Netflix. They select their digital wallet as the payment method, and Boku provides the backend piping that connects Netflix with that specific local wallet. Its network now reaches 200+ LPMs, and is growing every year.

Last year, revenue jumped 30% to £129m, up from £62m in 2021. By 2028, analysts expect that to reach more than £210m, with LPMs expected to account for 60% of the $11trn global e-commerce market.

However, Boku isn’t a loss-making fintech. Its profits are growing alongside strong top-line expansion, and management’s confident margins will improve in future years.

The good news is that this earnings growth doesn’t look priced in, with the stock trading at just 18 times next year’s forecast earnings. That’s cheap for a scalable platform that expects to continue growing at 20% over the medium term.

Again, a global economic downturn is a risk, as is competition in the payments space. But I reckon this under-the-radar stock’s worth considering buying for the next five years.

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One of the biggest causalities of the Middle East conflict — due to the spectre of higher interest rates — has been the small-cap sector. Many shares here have dropped 20% or more year to date.

Here are a pair of falling small-cap stocks that are worth checking out.

Burgeoning social travel platform

Hostelworld (LSE:HSW) is an online booking platform showing hostels and budget hotels. Naturally, this makes it very popular with young and solo travellers.

The stock has fallen 20% year to date and 40% over two years, resulting in a £125m market cap.

Now, the obvious near-term risk here is a spike in inflation. This could put pressure on discretionary spending, leading to less travel and fewer bookings. Meanwhile, restricted Middle East airspace isn’t ideal for global travel.

However, what I think is underappreciated about Hostelworld is that it’s quietly turning into a social network. Travellers who book on its platform get to message and interact with others staying in the same hostel, as well as plan and book meet-up events.

Not only does this differentiate Hostelworld from larger rival Booking, it’s also driving more repeat business and deeper loyalty among users. It also has the potential to reduce marketing costs in future as more travellers book directly through the app rather than via a Google search.

Hostelworld ended 2025 with over 3.4m social members. Since launch in 2022, they have sent 16m chat messages and booked 17m times. So this is really starting to catch on.

Looking ahead, this network could become much larger because the platform is opening up social features to non-Hostelworld travellers (for a fee). As this scales in future, there could be loads of monetisation potential.

The most attractive thing here is the ultra-cheap valuation, with the stock trading at 8.4 times this year’s forecast earnings. In 2027, this drops to just 6.8, as net income is forecast to surge around 170% between 2025 and then.

That’s not all. The company has started paying a dividend (which it cancelled during the pandemic), and the forward dividend yield is 3.5%.

Finally, City analysts see a lot of value here. The average price target among six brokers is 183p — around 83% higher than the current price!

Fast-growing payments network

The second cheap small-cap stock is smartphone payments facilitator Boku (LSE:BOKU). The £517m fintch has plummeted 29% since October.

Yet the company, which calls itself the “payment network trusted by tech giants“, is growing nicely. And its network now reaches 300+ payment methods worldwide, enabling merchants to transact with unbanked mobile users.

Last year, revenue increased 30% to $128.8m, while adjusted EBITDA jumped 36% to $41.3m. Looking ahead, management is guiding for 20%+ growth over the medium term, as local payments through smartphones rocket across Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Again, the main risk here is a global economic downturn, sparked by surging energy costs. This could see a slowdown in payment volumes.

However, the stock’s trading at 16.7 times 2027’s forecast earnings. That looks cheap for an increasingly profitable high-growth company.

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Therefore, anyone who invested £10,000 in the FTSE 100 bank back then would now have less than £9,000. However, the same amount invested five years ago would today be worth approximately £30,400, even after March’s pullback.

Including reinvested dividends, the total return would be around £34,000. Not bad for a dull ‘old economy’ stock!

Asian growth markets

I bought HSBC stock at 604p in early 2024. With the share price now above 1,250p, I’ve basically doubled my investment, before dividends.

Looking back to the period when I first invested, I wrote: “I expect the bank’s increasing focus on China and Asia to pay dividends (literally). The region is expected to boom in the decades ahead as middle classes expand and prosper. And HSBC will be there to serve them“.

Fast forward to now, my investment thesis hasn’t changed. Indeed, I’m more convinced than ever that significant institutional money will flow towards Asian markets over the next decade, driven by increasingly unpredictable US policy.

If I’m right, this should benefit HSBC, which has significant exposure to Hong Kong, mainland China, India, and Singapore. The lender has also opened up its first Middle East wealth centre in the UAE, where I hear quite a few well-off people reside.

But are HSBC shares worth considering after the 10% dip? I think so. The forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio isn’t particularly high at 9.7, while there’s an attractive 5.15% forward dividend yield.

Share buybacks are currently on hold after HSBC bought the 37% stake it didn’t already own in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank for $13.6bn. But buybacks are widely expected to resume sooner rather than later.

The Middle East war clearly adds near-term uncertainty, as HSBC has been selectively increasing its exposure to the region. If there’s a global economic downturn, then banks and their shareholders will likely feel the pain.

As mentioned though, I’m still bullish on HSBC long term.

Boku

Another interesting UK stock is Boku (LSE:BOKU). With a £493m market cap, this is the equivalent of a stickleback compared to HSBC.

However, it’s also riding Asia’s vibrant economies by helping Western companies expand in the region. Its platform makes it easier for unbanked users to pay for goods and services via their smartphones.

Last year, revenue increased 30% to $128.8m, with adjusted EBITDA jumping 36% to $41.3m. Revenue from bundling, which helps tech giants like Netflix and Amazon bundle subscriptions into consumer mobile plans, surged 71% to $14.9m.

Looking ahead, rising inflation is a risk, as this could limit payment volumes growth. This is presumably why the stock has fallen 10% since the end of February.

AI might be another concern. However, as BlackRock Throgmorton Trust (a Boku shareholder) recently said: “As for AI risk, we think Boku is well insulated, considering it is a regulated network operating across multi jurisdictions, with multiple licenses with a deep and broad pool of connections across myriad companies and merchants that is an incredible barrier to entry and hard to replicate.”

Trading at just 19 times forward earnings, I think this under-the-radar growth stock is worth looking into.

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Here are two under-the-radar growth shares worth thinking about.

AIM stock

First up is Boku (LSE:BOKU), an AIM-listed fintech specialising in local payment methods (LPMs). It helps merchants drive more sales from people paying for goods and services through their mobile phones. Boku’s network facilitates over 300 LPMs worldwide.

Believe it or not, more people today pay with a LPM than through Visa or Mastercard. Indeed, entire regions like Southeast Asia are effectively leapfrogging bank cards and going straight from cash to LPMs.

How? Well, unbanked people just go to a local store with cash and top up a digital wallet, which can then be used for e-commerce and streaming services.

What I like here is Boku’s roster of blue-chip customers — it calls itself the “payment network trusted by tech giants“. For example, it helps Netflix and Spotify reach more subscribers worldwide through bundling with mobile phone bills. It also supports Amazon in Japan.

Last year, Boku’s revenue grew 30% to $128.8m, while operating profit surged 205% to $18.9m. Bundling revenue jumped 71%. Management is confident it can continue growing revenue organically at 20%+ over the medium term.

Looking ahead, one key risk I see is that Boku’s take rate — the fees it earns on transactions — could come under pressure as competition intensifies. Last year, it stood at 82 basis points.

However, the stock has fallen 32% since October, putting it on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19.7. For a fast-growing firm with potentially many years of double-digit growth ahead, I think that’s an attractive valuation.

FTSE 250

The second stock is Applied Nutrition (LSE:APN) from the FTSE 250. Backed by JD Sports Fashion, this is a founder-led sports nutrition and wellness company.

Now, the main worry I had when the firm went public in 2024 was competition. There’s just a ton of firms doing protein shakes, pre-workout drinks, and supplements. What gives Applied Nutrition an edge?

Well, it aims to be the world’s most trusted and innovative brand in the market. And it’s making great strides towards that ambition, with shelf space secured in Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and even Walmart in North America. It has launched a 53-product range of high-protein meals and snacks with Morrisons.

Speaking personally, I’m a regular user of the company’s creatine products. And recently I started taking Applied Nutrition’s ‘critical greens’ powder, which is packed with broccoli, celery, spinach, etc, and is therefore reassuringly disgusting (in a healthy sort of way).

Therefore, I do believe this trusted and innovative brand has an edge over rivals. Looking at the financials, this is becoming apparent, with full-year revenue of about £140m expected (roughly 31% growth and higher than previous market expectations).

A 26% operating margin is also very healthy (no pun intended).

While a spike in UK inflation wouldn’t help, this is an increasingly diversified global business (Latin America is growing strongly). And the global sports nutrition and wellness market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 8%, reaching £279bn by the end of 2028.

The forward P/E ratio here is just 18.3.

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With a market-cap of £516m, Boku‘s (LSE:BOKU) one such example. It’s a fintech firm that connects global tech giants such as Amazon, Netflix and Spotify to more than 114m people worldwide who either don’t have a debit/credit card or prefer not to use them. 

Let’s take a look at Boku’s 2025 results — released Tuesday (17 March) — to see why the stock jumped almost 8%.

A mobile-first payment network

When Boku listed in 2018, it was focused on carrier billing (charging items and services to your phone bill). While still active in that market, which accounted for almost 55% of revenue last year, the firm’s branched out into local payment methods (LPMs) and bundling.

LPMs include account-to-account and digital wallets. Most of the firm’s growth here is coming from Southeast Asia, where hundreds of millions of people now use digital wallets, including GrabPay (Southeast Asia), MoMo (Vietnam), and GCash (the Philippines).

Bundling is obviously when providers offer more attractive packages. For example, getting six months of Spotify or Disney+ included with your mobile phone plan. Boku processes the payment, taking a small cut.

Therefore, the firm sits at the intersection of some really big growth trends (global proliferation of smartphones, digital payments, streaming, gaming, e-commerce, etc).

Strong growth

All three businesses are growing, but digital wallets and bundling are really taking off, with revenue growth of 67% and 71% respectively last year. This saw group revenue increase 30% year on year to $128.8m — a doubling of the top line since 2022.

Monthly active users jumped 31% to 114.4m, while total payment volume rose 27% to $15.7bn. CEO Stuart Neal said: “As global e-commerce becomes increasingly dependent on a diverse range of payment methods, our role as a growth partner to global merchants around the world continues to deepen.” 

Another thing I like here is that the payments company is profitable. Last year, adjusted EBITDA increased 36% to $41.3m, supporting an operating profit of $18.9m. The firm is debt-free and ended December with $103m of its own cash.

This year, City analysts expect earnings per share to increase around 26%. This puts the stock on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 22, which I don’t consider expensive for a fast-growing global fintech firm.

Over the medium term, Boku’s targeting organic compound annual revenue growth above 20%. And a final thing worth noting is that the company’s moving into cross-border payments and developing new payment capabilities like stablecoins. So Boku isn’t resting on its laurels.

Final thoughts

As for risks, there’s the potential for adverse currency fluctuations as well as a global economic slowdown. Also, there’s plenty of competition in local payments in Asia Pacific and Latin America (it also operates in Brazil).

That said, global e-commerce is projected to reach $11trn by 2028, so this is a massive market that can accommodate lots of winners. The growth opportunities are certainly there, and if Boku can seize them, it should be a larger company a few years from now.

As such, I reckon this under-the-radar AIM stock is worth considering at 177p.

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I’d wager quite a few investors have never heard of this AIM-listed company, with a market cap of £612m. Oh, and with forecasts for a 10-fold increase in earnings per share between 2024 and 2027. It’s no wonder eight out of eight brokers have it as a Buy.

Boku is a new-generation financial technology company — or fintech for short. It provides a platform to pay for goods and services on mobile phones. Telecom providers are using it to enable customers to buy from the likes of Amazon, Netflix and many more.

Not seen it local to our own neighbourhoods yet? Well, it’s growing particularly strongly in China and the rest of the Asia Pacific region. It’s the power behind the AliPay eWallet, for example, in China and Hong Kong. And China seems to be well ahead of the UK in electronic transactions, with cash payment rapidly disappearing — even in some remote parts of the country.

What to expect

With January’s year-end trading update, the company braced us for an expectations-busting year. We should be on for revenue of approximately $128m, for a 29% increase from the previous year. As a result, we see total cash up 39%. And EBITDA should be 31% ahead at around $41m, with Boku now having 115m monthly active users.

Now, these amounts might not seem very big in the scale of global payment systems. But these are still very early days for this business sector. And the potential is surely huge.

CEO Stuart Neal told us: “Direct Carrier Billing remains a popular payment method, Digital Wallets are scaling rapidly and Account-to-Account schemes are continuing to emerge.” He also spoke of confidence in “our medium-term guidance of organic revenue growth above 20% on a CAGR basis and adjusted EBITDA margins above 30%.”

What’s the risk?

Nothing in the investing business is ever really a no-brainer Buy, not even if all the analysts say so. And I see a few potential rocks in the road ahead here. For starters, we’re very much looking at the kind of high valuation that often comes with an early-stage growth stock. Boku is on a forecast price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 53. But that’s down from over 200 last year. And if forecasts are right, it could be under 30 by 2027.

It’s in a highly-competitive market too, and subject to various global regulatory regimes. Still, with the potential I’m seeing here, Boku has to be a strong contender for growth stock investors to consider in 2026.

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Here are two under-the-radar UK stocks I think are worth checking out as we move — already! — into February.

Infrastructure-as-a-service

Let’s start with Beeks Financial Cloud (LSE:BKS). This AIM-listed company, which only has a market-cap of about £150m, provides low-latency, high-speed, cloud computing infrastructure for financial markets.

It’s built a network of data centres in the world’s top financial hubs, enabling trades to be made rapidly and securely for banks, brokers, and asset managers.

Beeks already counts the Mexico, Australia and Johannesburg stock exchanges among its clients, as well as Kraken in the crypto space. It has multi-year contracts in place with six of the world’s top 30 exchanges.

Revenue grew from less than £10m to £36.6m in the space of five years. For FY26, which ends in June, revenue’s expected to rise above £40m, alongside a doubling in earnings.

As Beeks has largely already built its global network infrastructure, adding new customers costs very little. As a result, I expect the business to continue growing profits at a decent clip as it increases operational leverage.

With further exchanges and major institutions in the sales pipeline, the Board sees considerable growth runway ahead.

Beeks Financial Cloud

The price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio here is 0.8, which is under the benchmark of 1 that investors tend to look for. Therefore, this looks like an attractive entry point for growth investors to consider.

With the share price down 19% since October, the average 12-month price target among analysts is now around 54% higher. This doesn’t mean it will ever reach this price, of course, but the disconnect’s worth noting.

Local payments

Next up is Boku (LSE:BOKU), a fast-growing fintech that enables people to quickly pay for goods and services through their phones (digital wallet, phone bill, etc).

In particular, it’s enjoying rapid growth in the adoption of its bundling solutions, which allow merchants such as Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify to partner with telecom carriers to offer packaged deals. In H1 2025, bundling revenue jumped 70% year on year.

Nearly 60% of revenue comes from Asia Pacific, where digital payments among unbanked people are exploding in popularity. This provides a significant long-term opportunity for enablers like Boku, which is also seeing strong growth in account-to-account payments.

The firm’s profitable, with analysts expecting net earnings of $34m on revenue of $153m this year. And the board’s recently authorised a buyback programme to repurchase up to 5% of shares.

Risk and reward

It goes without saying that there are risks. Beeks is a small company with just a 7.5% operating margin today. As such, any setback or loss of a key contract could severely dent its profitability.

Meanwhile, Boku’s moving ever deeper into local payments, which increases regulatory risk. For example, a change in local law in a high-growth market could suddenly increase the cost of doing business there. 

Investors should always weigh up the risks as well as the potential rewards. But these two under-the-radar UK stocks are opportunities worth exploring further, in my opinion.

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This takes the three-year return above 1,100%. This is the sort of gain people might associate with a high-flying US tech share rather than a FTSE 100 blue chip. Incredible stuff!

Looking ahead, however, City analysts reckon this under-the-radar UK stock could deliver much higher returns by 2027.

Fast-growing fintech

The share I’m referring to is Boku (LSE:BOKU), an AIM-listed fintech firm with a £668m market cap. It connects merchants to 200+ local payment methods (LPMs) and wallets, helping people in 60 countries pay for goods and services with their mobile phones.

Boku says its mission is to “simplify global expansion for our merchants by providing seamless access to the world’s most popular payment methods”. It works with Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Google, and many more. 

Revenue has grown rapidly, from $56.4m in 2020 to an expected $152m this year. However, an attractive thing here is that Boku is now firmly profitable, with net profit expected to grow 25% this year to more than $34m.

In particular, Boku is seeing strong growth in bundles, which is where digital services like Netflix or Spotify are packaged with mobile or broadband plans.

The long-term opportunity is significant because in regions like Southeast Asia, digital wallet use is exploding far faster than credit card adoption. Almost 60% of the company’s revenue comes from Asia Pacific, though it’s also been cleared to access Brazil’s most popular instant payment system (Pix).

As such, Boku has committed to compound annual revenue growth of 20%+ over the medium term, alongside margin expansion. And it’s opened an innovation hub in Singapore dedicated to solving merchants’ cross-border money movement headaches.

The company is also currently piloting stablecoin payment rails, which demonstrates how forward-thinking it is.

With increasing volumes across our network, we are prioritising operational efficiency and building a platform with the capacity to scale significantly.
Boku CEO Stuart Neal

Share buybacks and valuation

The share price is up 68% since the start of 2024. However, the board believes Boku’s shares remain undervalued, and a share buyback programme is ongoing.

Based on current forecasts, the stock is trading at 27 times forward earnings. For a fast-growing fintech with potentially many years of growth left in the tank, I don’t think that’s particularly expensive.

Indeed, it may even prove to be very cheap. Brokers agree, with all six covering Boku rating it a Buy.

Moreover, the average price target is 330p, which is 47% above the current level of 223p.

Hidden gem stock?

Naturally, Boku faces stiff competition from other fintechs eyeing up the lucrative LPM market. In Latin America, it’s up against Uruguay’s Dlocal, which is much larger (with a $4.2bn market cap).

I used to own Boku shares in 2018/19. Since I sold them, the company dropped off my radar. However, it’s come a long way from phone bills and is expanding impressively into local payments, especially in Asia.

I already have a lot of fintech exposure in my portfolio, so I’m not going to re-invest. But others might want to consider taking a small stake in this fast-growing fintech sooner rather than later.

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A hidden gem?

The UK stock market is full of under-the-radar companies that not many people have heard of. Boku (LSE: BOKU) is a great example.

Listed on the UK’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), it’s a technology company that specialises in mobile payment solutions. It currently trades for 225p and sports a market cap of £670m.

Now, the interesting thing is, City analysts’ average 12-month price target for this stock is 293p. That’s about 29% above the current share price.

This indicates that analysts see the potential for significant gains from here. Going back to Rolls-Royce, its average price target is about 10% below its current share price.

A lot to like

Taking a closer look at this company, I can see why analysts like it.

For starters, it operates in a rapidly-growing industry. According to Grand View Research, the mobile payments market is forecast to grow by 38% per year between now and 2030. That’s a phenomenal level of growth. And it could provide massive growth support for Boku, which helps consumers pay for services from their smartphones without the need for a debit or credit card. It counts companies like Amazon, Spotify, and Google as customers.

Secondly, this company – which is very scalable – has a brilliant growth track record. Over the last three years, revenue has soared from $62m to $99m. Note that this year, analysts forecast revenue of $124m. For 2026, the forecast is $149m.

Boku is also profitable and cash generative. Additionally, it has a strong balance sheet and is doing share buybacks, so the financials look great.

Finally, the stock is in a beautiful uptrend. Recently, it has hit new all-time highs, which is a major positive as it means that there are now no disgruntled investors who are sitting on losses and waiting to break even and then sell.

Risks to think about

Now, it’s not bullet-proof, of course. As with every stock, there are risks here.

One thing to be aware of is that digital payments is a fiercely competitive industry. And Boku is up against some big players including Apple and PayPal, so competition from rivals is a risk.

Another risk is a major economic slowdown. This could lead to a slowdown in market growth as consumers rein in their spending.

It’s also worth mentioning the stock’s valuation. Currently, Boku trades at 29 times next year’s earnings forecast – that doesn’t leave much room for a setback.

Overall though, I share City analysts’ bullish view here. I think this UK stock is worth considering today.

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Here are three minnows that jump out, warranting a closer look and perhaps a tentative first purchase. 

Bloomsbury 

Books are likely to prove a very popular (and cheap) form of entertainment over the next few weeks. Despite UK shop closures, this could be good news for Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury (LSE: BMY). I say ‘could’ because, right now, the company said it can’t really estimate the extent to which coronavirus has impacted trading.

Nevertheless, I’d be surprised if it failed to sell a decent amount of hardbacks, paperbacks, ebooks and audiobook downloads over the next few weeks/months.

In addition to the possibility of earnings remaining fairly stable, Bloomsbury’s prudent handling of its finances means it’s entered lockdown in a strong position. Net cash of £31m on the balance sheet is a nice buffer to have. 

Considering the shares are down roughly 25% from the highs achieved towards the beginning of 2020, now could prove to be a decent entry point. 

888

The decimation of the sporting calendar, including the postponement of Euro 2020 and the Olympics, is having a huge impact on gambling firms, such as William Hill and GVC. One stock that may turn out to be less affected than most is online gaming provider 888 Holdings (LSE: 888).

Last week, the company reported “increased customer activity” around its Casino and Poker products. It’s hoped this will make up for the impact on its Sports division (which made up 16% of revenue last year).

Obviously, no investment is risk-free. If sporting events are disrupted until September, the earnings hit could be in the “high single-digit millions of dollars,” according to the small-cap. So caution is still advised.

Despite this, 888 would be my clear preference in the gambling space. Its online-only business model means it can dodge the fixed costs associated with maintaining a physical estate. The company also reported having almost $100m in cash at the end of 2019. 

Boku

A final pick of small-cap firms likely to see a rise in demand is independent carrier commerce company Boku (LSE: BOKU). Put simply, Boku’s technology allows consumers to pay for things using their mobile phone number. Based on recent figures, this is proving increasingly popular.

Last year, the £200m-cap managed to grow revenue by 42% to just over $50m. It also announced its maiden post-tax profit ($400,000 compared to a loss of $4.3m in 2018).

This demand has only got stronger over the last month. It remarked on “significant increases in new users” of its platform. The focus was “particularly for streaming video services and gaming in those countries hardest hit by Covid-19.”

Unsurprisingly, this encouraging news has been reflected in the behaviour of Boku’s share price. It fell in tandem with everything else during March. But it’s now back to where it was at the start of the month.

Things are likely to stay volatile. But risk-tolerant investors may wish to consider taking a stake sooner rather than later.

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