Growth stocks are the spice of investing life. I’ve done brilliantly out of my portfolio of FTSE 100 dividend shares in 2025, but now I want to dial up the action with some growth. Where to start?
I’ve got a few ideas, but I’m worried I might be missing something. So just for fun, I asked ChatGPT to pick three UK shares with serious, if not epic, growth potential.
I’d never actually use AI to pick stocks, that’s not what it’s designed for, but I hoped it would point me towards something interesting. To my surprise, given my focus on income, I already own the first stock it highlighted.
I shouldn’t really be surprised, given that the stock is Rolls‑Royce Holdings (LSE: RR.). It’s rocketed 1,150% in three years, and 99% over the last 12 months. Which is pretty epic.
ChatGPT says the engineering giant has benefitted from the rebound in aviation, combined with optimism around future nuclear and aerospace contracts. It listed risks as “execution and cash flow”, which is very generic.
Personally, I’d be wary about Rolls-Royce. Expectations are sky-high, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 55. If profits, revenues or margins disappoint, it could smash the shares at these levels. I’m seriously thinking of taking profits rather than buying more. It’s a good example of why investors should never take ChatGPT as written, but do their own research.
By contrast, the next pick came out of the blue. FTSE 250-listed Kainos Group (LSE: KNOS), a digital technology services firm I hadn’t considered before. ChatGPT says it’s riding a wave of enterprise tech spending, with revenue growth expected to outpace the broader market. The Kainos shares price jumped 30% in 2025, though the five-year trend has been patchy.
The board reported a 16% drop in first-half profits to £32m, but that was mostly due to investing in the business and taking on new staff. Six-month revenues actually rose 7% to £196.1m. Kainos further cheered investors by hiking the interim dividend and announcing a £30m share buyback.
ChatGPT warned that “growth may stall if budgets tighten or competitors nibble at market share”, which is so generic as to be meaningless. I’ll dig deeper, but I think this one deserves a longer look.
Finally, ChatGPT tossed out FTSE 250 cell and gene therapy specialist Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB). It’s clearly chasing momentum here, as the company’s shares are up 40% this year and 200% over two.
In September, Oxford Biomedica posted a 44% rise in first-half revenues to £73.2m, and the order book more than doubled year-on-year. Consensus forecasts are optimistic, suggesting the shares may rise another 24% over the next year, to 748p.