The FTSE 100 features its own artificial intelligence (AI) contender, which currently stands as the blue-chip index’s top-performing growth stock over the past year.
The company in question is Computacenter (LSE: CCC), which has seen its share price surge by 126% over the last 12 months. This performance significantly outpaces the second-best stock, the eastern European lender Lion Finance Group, which recorded a 90% gain. So, what is driving this momentum?
Home-grown tech hero
Computacenter is a spending, providing servers, networking hardware, and support services to organizations developing increasingly sophisticated computing systems.
The financial results reflect this: first-half 2026 revenue climbed 72% to £6.85bn, while adjusted operating profit rose by 87% to £153m.
Computacenter also maintains a presence in North America, which proved to be its most successful market; operating profit there more than doubled as the firm secured contracts with hyperscalers, neocloud providers, and enterprise clients. Computacenter joined the FTSE 100 in June, though its performance prior to this milestone had been somewhat inconsistent.
While this is an AI-related investment, the company benefits from the infrastructure supporting AI rather than the development of the technology itself. In some ways, this reduces risk, as the firm is not involved in a high-stakes competition to build the world’s leading chatbot.
However, the company’s success relies on customers maintaining their heavy investment in AI infrastructure. Should this spending boom decelerate, lucrative contracts could be postponed or cancelled entirely.
Unsurprisingly, following such a significant rally, Computacenter shares are not inexpensive, trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 31. This is double the FTSE 100 average. Furthermore, the trailing dividend yield sits at just 1.35%.
AI infrastructure investment could remain substantial for years as companies continue to expand their computing capacity.
Computacenter’s expansion into North America provides the firm with access to a much larger technology market.
The company’s robust balance sheet offers the flexibility to pursue acquisitions and continue investing in future growth.
Three reasons they may struggle:
A decline in hyperscaler spending could significantly impact order volumes following such rapid expansion.
The stock is currently priced to reflect expectations of substantial future earnings growth, leaving little margin for error.
Computacenter operates on relatively thin margins, meaning shifts in the company’s business mix could have a disproportionate impact on profitability.
What is the market consensus? Eleven analysts have provided a median one-year price target of 6,206p. If this forecast proves accurate, it would represent a more modest gain of nearly 14% from the current price of 5,454p. Eight analysts currently rate the stock a Buy, while four suggest a Hold. None have issued a Sell rating.
