Softcat PLC (LSE:SCT) shares moved up on Friday, climbing around 8% to 1,560p, as it upgraded its full-year profit outlook after a strong third quarter, with AI-related infrastructure demand and corporate customer spending helping drive double-digit growth.
The UK IT infrastructure technology and services provider said gross profit and underlying operating profit both grew at strong double-digit rates year on year in the three months to 30 April 2026.
Growth was described as broad-based, with particular strength in corporate customers. Softcat said demand for AI-enabled infrastructure supported performance, alongside the continued pull-forward of some orders caused by memory shortages.
The board now expects underlying operating profit to grow by a mid-teens percentage for the full year, compared with previous guidance for high single-digit growth.
Chief executive Graham Charlton said AI was driving “investment and innovation across all elements of IT infrastructure”, adding that Softcat’s offering spans datacentre, edge, network, security, data, automation, hardware, software and services.
Softcat said it remained encouraged by business momentum and the prospect of further market-share gains, while recognising uncertainty from ongoing memory shortages and the wider macroeconomic environment.