London, July 1, 2026, 19:18 BST
- Cohort plc (LON:CHRT) climbed 108p, up 8.78%, to close at 1,338p in London, according to market data.
- At that price, with the 47.05 million shares Cohort reported on Wednesday, the group’s implied equity value lands around £629 million. That’s roughly the same as its last reported £620 million order book.
- Jefferies maintained its “hold” rating on Cohort with a 1,300p price target. The broker noted new UK defence spending may lead to extra work in sonar and naval countermeasures. Proactiveinvestors UK
Cohort plc (LON:CHRT) surged Wednesday, as small and mid-cap UK defence stocks caught a bid after Britain announced a new defence investment plan. Cohort closed at 1,338p, up 108p, or 8.78%.
Valuation is the key issue. Cohort said in a voting-rights notice Wednesday it had 47,046,227 ordinary shares out, with no treasury shares. At 1,338p per share, that puts equity at around £629 million. The company’s last trading update showed a closing order book of about £620 million. Order book isn’t profit, but with that ratio, it could be important going into full-year results.
Cohort’s RNS on Wednesday was a voting-rights announcement, not news on contracts or earnings. The share move looks more like investors reacting to defence policy and broker commentary than to anything new from the company itself.
Cohort’s May 27 update laid out the backlog numbers for investors:
| Measure | FY26 update | Investor read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £303 million | Grew about 12%. Beat previous market forecasts by 3.1%. |
| Adjusted operating profit | c.£36 million | Came in about 3.7% ahead of the market consensus. |
| Order intake | c.£313 million | Up 10.2% versus FY25’s £284 million. |
| Closing order book | c.£620 million | This is roughly double FY26 revenue. |
| FY27 revenue cover | c.£253 million | About 80% of what was expected as FY27 revenue. |
| Net funds | £2.9 million | Back in positive territory after half-year net debt of £32.5 million. |
Source: Cohort’s full-year trading update on May 27. All percentages compare to numbers in that update.
Cohort CEO Andrew Thomis said the group has been “exceeding market expectations” and pointed to a “new record level” for the order book, along with a “high level of order cover” going into the new financial year. He also sees “encouraging prospects for further orders”. London South East
Margin split is the main focus here. Communications and Intelligence brought in £159 million in revenue, margin came in about 20%, boosted by a full-year from EM Solutions. Sensors and Effectors’ revenue reached £144 million, margin was roughly 7%. Cohort said trading was careful on ELAC’s Italian sonar contract and flagged the sale of SEA’s higher-margin transport business.
UK defense stocks got a new policy boost after the government announced on June 30 that it will back the Defence Investment Plan with £298 billion over four years. The package includes £15 billion in extra spending, with more than £5 billion earmarked for drones, £11 billion for munitions and weapons, and £790 million for air, drone and missile defense.
Jefferies took a selective view. The broker put “buy” ratings on Chemring Group plc (LON:CHG) and Babcock International Group plc (LON:BAB), but left Cohort and QinetiQ Group plc (LON:QQ) at “hold”. For Cohort, Jefferies flagged sonar and naval countermeasures, though its 1,300p target price was 2.9% under Cohort’s closing level on Wednesday. Proactiveinvestors UK
| Company | Ticker | Wednesday move | Displayed quote | Broker/policy read-through cited |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort | LON:CHRT | up 8.78% | 1,338p | Jefferies has hold, 1,300p price; sonar and naval countermeasures read |
| QinetiQ | LON:QQ | up 5.63% | 441.80p/442.20p bid-offer | Jefferies kept hold, target set at 487p; broker notes directed energy and test |
| Chemring | LON:CHG | up 5.27% | 538.50p/539.50p bid-offer | Jefferies stayed with buy, target at 658p; focus on energetics, Digital Targeting Web |
| Babcock | LON:BAB | up 5.17% | 999.40p/1,000.50p bid-offer | Jefferies buy, target goes to 1,400p; flagged nuclear, AUKUS, naval |
| BAE Systems | LON:BA | up 1.95% | £18.80 close | Defence plan offers the sector clearer budgets |
Sources: Share prices from Hargreaves Lansdown, closing data from MarketWatch, and Proactive’s summary of Jefferies’ note.
BAE Systems plc (LON:BA) CEO Charles Woodburn said higher government defence spending is “vital to sustaining the specialist skills” in the industry. At Cohort, focus shifts to turning a record order book into cash and margin, but lower-margin Sensors and Effectors work could weigh. Reuters
There’s still a cost to trade. London South East had Cohort quoted at 1,312p to buy and 1,352p to sell—a spread of 40p, or roughly 3.0%. Volume on Hargreaves Lansdown was at 134,702 shares. That’s a real price for investors who want to follow a small-cap, policy-driven move.
Cohort said it plans to report full-year results for the year to April 30, 2026 on July 15. In its May update, Cohort said net funds stood at £2.9 million at year-end after solid cash flow in the second half, with over £6 million coming in as receipts in early May.
