The AIM All-Share has got off to a strong start to the year after lagging blue-chips in 2026, with investors hoping the feel-good factor that powered the Footsie last year is finally trickling down to the market’s lower reaches.
Small-cap stocks rose 2.6% over the past five trading days, exactly double the pace of the big-company index, driven by a handful of eye-catching triple-digit gainers.
Leading the pack, with a 200% jump, was Galantas Gold Corp (AIM:GAL, TSX-V:GAL, OTCQX:GALKF), which on Thursday struck a deal to buy the Andacollo Oro gold project in Chile’s Coquimbo region. The asset is a past-producing, large-scale open-pit heap leach operation, with infrastructure and permits already in place alongside “extensive” historical technical data.
Measured and indicated mineral resources are estimated at an aggregate two million ounces of gold. Put into context, this is, on the face of it, a mid-tier asset being bought for a knock-down $32 million. Whether it proves to be the bargain it appears remains to be seen.
Mobilityone Limited (AIM:MBO) doubled in value during the week and is now up more than 800% over the past month. The catalyst was a New Year’s Eve announcement that it had secured regulatory approval to launch an Islamic bank.
CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:CTL, OTCQX:CTLHF) gained a comparatively modest 55% after saying it had appointed Cutfield Freeman as financial adviser to help secure a strategic partner and structure funding for its Laguna Verde project in Chile. The move comes as the company nears completion of a pre-feasibility study and advances its application for a Special Lithium Operating Contract.
Speculation around the future of Greenland, and claims by the Trump administration over ownership, appeared to give a lift to Alba Mineral Resources PLC (AIM:ALBA, OTC:ALBAF), which has a 51% stake in a critical metals project on the Arctic island. The shares ended the week 61% higher.
Stake-building activity pushed Westmount Energy Limited (AIM:WTE, OTCQB:WMELF) up 50%, while Reabold Energy advanced 42% after receiving sign-off for a gas project in Italy.
Down 56% in the last year, there were flickers of life at Lords Trading Group, which sells DIY and building materials, along with garden furniture. The shares ended the week 5% higher.
Turning to the fallers, Indus Gas topped the losers’ list, sliding 38% after investors backed plans to delist from AIM. It follows a trend seen in both 2024 and 2025, with smaller companies choosing to go private amid poor liquidity, shrinking access to capital and high listing fees.
Jarvis Securities Plc (AIM:JIM) fell a further 33% after a late-December update on the scale of potential liabilities linked to historic breaches of Financial Conduct Authority rules, currently totalling £2.8 million. Over the past year, the stock has plunged more than 80% and is now worth just over £3 million, despite holding around £10 million on the balance sheet.
Shares in Gunsynd PLC (LSE:GUN) slid 30% after the explorer published what appeared, on the face of it, to be a benign update on its Barb gold project in Canada. The company said it had completed a full technical assessment of its 2025 field programme at Barb, where it owns 100% of the project.
The market’s reaction, seemingly at odds with the broadly positive tone, may reflect concern that Gunsynd could yet need to return to shareholders for funding, potentially through a share issue to finance further work. With a market value of about £1.6 million, even a relatively small capital raising would risk being highly dilutive and almost certainly priced at a significant discount.
Alternatively, the move may say more about market mechanics than fundamentals. In thinly traded small-cap stocks, a single determined seller can have an outsized impact on the price. Under London’s market-maker system, relatively modest volumes can translate into sharp moves when liquidity is limited.
Shares in Engage XR Holdings PLC (AIM:EXR) XR fell 26% after the group reported a sharp drop in revenues, hit by delays to contract signings and weaker demand from corporate clients. The AIM-listed artificial intelligence and spatial computing business said it expects full-year revenue of about €1.9 million for 2025, down from €3.4 million a year earlier, blaming lower-than-expected enterprise sales and renewals as a global hiring slowdown curbed demand for training and onboarding tools.
Finally, one of the junior market’s larger companies passed a notable milestone. Seeing Machines Ltd (AIM:SEE, OTC:SEEMF), which makes camera-based systems to monitor driver alertness, said it would be cash-flow positive and post its first ever profit slightly ahead of schedule.
Earlier in the week, the company said it would receive $14.1 million in cash this month following a renegotiation of a long-running royalty agreement with a major automotive customer. The change follows a “material” alteration to the customer’s vehicle production programme, triggering an accelerated payout under an existing guarantee. Seeing Machines said the lump sum would lift profits and cash generation in the second half of its 2026 financial year.