I’m frequently looking for the best UK shares to buy for my Stocks and Shares ISA. Over the past 12 months, many UK shares have experienced explosive returns. The pandemic created many winners (and losers) in the stock market, and several shares experienced triple-digit gains.
Today I’m looking at two UK shares that have risen by 100% or more in the past year. Often, winners keep winning. In investing, it can sometimes be psychologically difficult to buy shares that have increased a lot. But in my experience, it can potentially be rewarding.
Best shares to buy now
First on my list is Reach (LSE:RCH). Formally known as Trinity Mirror, Reach is a leading national and regional news publisher. Aren’t newspapers a declining industry? Yes, circulation for physical newspapers continues to shrink. However, digital readership is on the up.
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And Reach’s digital business is exciting. It owns over 70 online brands spanning news, sport and showbiz. Like many online content sites, it makes its money from digital advertising. Typically, it does well when website visitor numbers rise. So it’s great to see its number of registered customers growing. In May, according to the company, it now stands at 6.2m customers, and “remains well on track to reach 10m by the end of 2022”.
Fine print
Its growth sounds encouraging. However, a word of warning. There is a risk that print revenues decline faster than it expects. In addition, digital sales could struggle to grow quickly enough to offset those print declines. These risks will need to be watched closely, but for now, the updates are encouraging.
Since I last wrote about Reach as one of the top shares to buy in November, its share price has more than doubled. And over and year it’s up by a whopping 350%+. In hindsight, I should’ve bought it last year. Nonetheless, I still think it could grow further and would consider buying it for my portfolio now.
An excellent update
When looking for the best shares to buy, it’s always encouraging to see positive trading updates. In particular I like to see companies reporting results that are “materially ahead of market expectations”.
So it was great to see Future (LSE: FUTR) mention those exact words in its recent trading update. Future is a global platform business for specialist media. According to the company, its content reaches over one in three adults online in both the UK and US.
Some of its brands might sound familiar. It owns TechRadar, Marie Claire, Tom’s Guide and many more magazine titles. Like Reach, its origins are in print media. But over the years, it has transformed its business into a digital-led, and diversified media company.
Looking to the future
Despite the positive results, bear in mind that economic uncertainties remain. The pandemic continues to change customer behaviour and can make it more difficult to predict, in my opinion. Also, the use of mobile devices continues to increase. Future will need to ensure it continuously adapts to evolving mobile technology.
Its share price is up by 20% since I wrote about this company in June. Over the past year, it’s up by around 180%. Given its strong business momentum, I think it could have further upside and consider it as one of the best shares to buy right now.
