AIM's five best and worst stocks in Q3

AIM outperformed large-caps during the third quarter, and eight stocks more than doubled in value. Graeme Evans runs through the highs and lows of the past three months.

The rewards of AIM investing have been highlighted after eight stocks more than doubled in value to help the junior market comfortably outperform London's FTSE 100 Index in the third quarter of the year.

The biggest Q3 moves are shown in our chart below, topped by the 227% jump for Orosur Mining after one of the world's biggest gold producers bought a 20% stake as part of an exploration agreement with the company.

We highlighted the potential of the Colombia-focused miner a year ago - at about the same time our companies analyst Edmond Jackson noted the growth prospects of Filtronic, which is second on the list with a rise of 164%.

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But AIM investing isn't without its risks, with the top five AIM fallers all nursing share price losses of 70% or more. The largest and best known of the five is eve Sleep, which plummeted 71% in the wake of a July profits warning.

Overall, the AIM All-Share Index rose 1.5% in the third quarter, which is a decent showing given that the FTSE 100 was down 1.7% in the period. AIM is home to the likes of retailers ASOS and Boohoo - worth £4.7 billion and £2.7 billion respectively - as well as oil and gas minnows and emerging technology stocks.

One name most investors will recognise is wireless communications company Filtronic, having shot to fame during the 2000 tech boom at more than £20 a share. Now the company is trading at 27p, although this is progress on the 13p of a few weeks ago and in September 2017 when Jackson tipped the stock.

Filtronic now has a spring in its step thanks to a flurry of orders and as it positions itself for the roll-out of 5G, the next generation of mobile technology that will mean much greater data speeds and capacity.

Source: TradingView (*)  Past performance is not a guide to future performance

The company recently announced production orders worth US$2 million for its Massive MIMO antenna product, which enables the use of beamforming techniques essential to 5G networks.

But as Filtronic is often criticised for its lumpy revenues performance, other orders away from the mobile market have also been welcomed by investors. These include a multi-year deal with a major European defence contractor to provide microwave modules for use in aerospace radar systems. 

Another stock with a rising profile is online womenswear retailer Sosandar. It is listed on AIM under the ticker SOS, although since raising more than £5 million in last November's IPO there's been little cause for alarm.

Shares stuck close to their issue price of 15.1p in the period up until July, before exploding into life in the wake of annual results. Revenues jumped 387% to £1.35 million as the company met demand from a generation of women who have graduated from younger fast fashion brands. The company says this is an under served sector of the clothing market worth nearly £4 billion.

Source: SharePad      Past performance is not a guide to future performance

Moving in the other direction on AIM was mattress maker eve Sleep, which endured a nightmare quarter after admitting in early July that trading had fallen short of its own and the market's "high expectations".

The profit warning, which cost the job of co-founder and chief executive Jas Bagniewski, sent shares down by an initial 60%. 

The stock has continued to struggle, despite encouraging news last month with the appointment of former Moon Pig managing director James Sturrock as CEO and the launch of a new strategy focusing on core markets in the UK and France.

In last month's interim results, the company said trading in those markets had increased by 40% in the first two months of the second half.

*Horizontal lines on charts represent previous technical support and resistance.