It’s tough out there for housebuilders, and MJ Gleeson has demonstrated that rising revenues and completions aren’t enough to ensure sustainable profit growth.

MJ Gleeson reported annual results broadly in line with revised expectations, with housing completions rising to 1,793 homes sold compared to 1,772 the previous year.

However, profits declined as operating profit at the homes division fell 26% to £22.3m despite a 6% revenue increase to £348.2m.

The housebuilder’s gross profit margin on homes sold dropped to 20.7% from 24.1% the previous year. Group profit before tax fell 17% to £20.5m, though total revenue increased 6% to £365.8m. The group pointed to rising costs as olders sites incurred higher costs and extended site life increased overheads.

Gleeson Land performed strongly, with operating profit surging 218% to £7.0m from £2.2m. The division completed seven land transactions versus four previously.

There are some reasons to be positive. Net reservation rates have improved 8% in recent weeks to 0.54 per site per week.

The firm maintains ambitious plans to sell 3,000 homes annually, which could triple group profitability. These ambitions, coupled with a dividend maintained at 11p for the full year, will have helped provide some support for shares on Tuesday.

“This year has been challenging for Gleeson, and despite selling more homes relative to FY2024, there have been factors which stalled our momentum. We have taken the actions necessary to benefit the business through FY2026 and ensure the delivery of our strategic objectives,” said Graham Prothero, CEO of MJ Gleeson.

“Positively, Gleeson Homes significantly strengthened its forward order book in the year. Market demand has been steady, and we have maintained a robust sales rate, reflected in our net open market reservations rate, up 28% in the second half against the same period last year. Selling prices, however, remained constrained, with incentives continuing at an elevated level, restricting material margin improvement.”

The FTSE 100 was trading in a holding pattern on Monday as markets geared up for a busy week of central bank action, including interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve.

London’s leading index was trading higher by just 1 point at the time of writing.

“There’s a wait and see mood at the start of the week as investors eye key central bank meetings and assess the potential path of interest rate cuts,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Warnings about higher food prices coming in the UK are likely to cause fresh worries about how long borrowers will have to wait until Bank of England policymakers vote for another cut. They are set to leave the base rate unchanged on Thursday and aren’t expected to make a move until next Spring.”

Global equity markets have surged higher on hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. With a deterioration in the jobs market, the Fed has little choice but to cut interest rates, and the question traders will be asking themselves is not whether they cut, but by how much.

Some investment banks have called for a 50 bps cut, but this seems unlikely with the consensus pointing to a quarter-point cut.

The Bank of England is not expected to cut rates, but they have surprised the market before.

FTSE 100 movers

Sainsbury’s was the FTSE 100’s top riser after the group said it had turned down an approach for its Argos business unit.

“The firing gun has effectively been triggered on the sale of Argos. Sainsbury’s might have rejected an offer from Chinese retailer JD, but the fact it hasn’t come out and said the business isn’t for sale at any price is telling,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“Sainsbury’s has talked up a food-first strategy for some time, implying that Argos wasn’t core to its long-term plans. The general merchandise business hasn’t been doing that well for a few years, and it always felt like Argos concessions were hidden away in the corner rather than being a prominent part of a Sainsbury’s store.”

Sainsbury’s shares were 6% as investors positioned for the potential future sale of Argos, which would allow the group to focus efforts on what it does best.

AstraZeneca and BT were both down more than 3% and were the top fallers on the day.

Housebuilders were among the gains as investors hoped for positive commentary from the BoE on Thursday and looked past soft data from Rightmove on house prices.

“Despite Rightmove data showing the first drop in house prices since the start of last year, housebuilders’ shares proved resilient, Mould said.

“The sector will be hoping the recent easing in gilt yields – which have a big impact on the mortgage market – is sustained.”

The AI trade is broadening out. Although AI giants such as Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet will still dominate index-level returns, there are a plethora of small firms gaining serious traction in the space.

Nvidia will continue to produce astronomical growth in dollar terms, but the pace of its growth is slowing. Revenue only grew 6% in the quarter to 27 July compared to the previous quarter.

Supporting a broader AI rally, investors are enjoying a rich selection of companies that are now generating revenue growth similar to Nvidia’s in the year following the launch of ChatGPT.

We look at two AI firms that are gaining the attention of investors.

Nebius

Nebius is a technology company building full-stack AI infrastructure, including large-scale GPU clusters, cloud platforms, and tools and services for AI developers.

The company has positioned itself as a specialist provider of AI-centric cloud services, distinguishing itself from traditional cloud providers by focusing exclusively on the demanding requirements of artificial intelligence workloads. It also operates an AI studio.

Their platform integrates the latest NVIDIA GPUs including L40s, H100, H200, and B200 models with high-performance InfiniBand networks capable of delivering up to 3.2Tbit/s per host.

Indeed, Nvidia itself holds a stake in Nebius.

What sets Nebius apart is its vertically integrated approach to AI infrastructure. The company designs proprietary cloud software architecture and hardware in-house, including servers, racks, and data centres.

This vertical integration allows them to optimise every layer of the stack for AI workloads, potentially delivering superior performance compared to competitors who rely on off-the-shelf components.

Nebius is seeing surging demand for AI infrastructure. In Q4 2024, the company reported revenue of $37.9 million, representing a whopping 466% increase year-over-year, with its core AI infrastructure business growing an even more impressive 602% compared to the same period in 2023.

This momentum has continued into 2025, with Q2 2025 revenue reaching $105.1 million, up 625% year-on-year and 106% quarter-on-quarter.

Management has recently raised its 2025 ARR outlook to $900 million to $1.1 billion.

The ultimate validation of Nebius’s technology and business model came with their announcement of a massive Microsoft partnership. The multi-year agreement with Microsoft is worth up to $19.4 billion through 2031.

Nebius also operates autonomous vehicle service Avride and coding bootcamp Triple Ten, as well as other smaller stakes in exciting early-stage tech firms.

Nebius only has a market cap of $21bn. The stock is up nearly 200% year to date, but growth rates more than justify the rally.

Databricks

We’re being a little presumptive by including Databricks in this article because its stock is not yet public. That said, the San Francisco-based company is finding plenty of support in private rounds.

Databricks recently closed $1 billion in Series K funding, valuing the company at over $100 billion in a round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Insight Partners, MGX, Thrive Capital, and WCM Investment Management.

The CEO has hinted at an IPO, but with VC throwing money at them, you can understand why the AI enterprise data firm has yet to IPO.

“We’re seeing tremendous investor interest because of the momentum behind our AI products, which power the world’s largest businesses and AI services,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks.

“Every company can securely turn its enterprise data into AI apps and agents to grow revenue faster, operate more efficiently, and make smarter decisions with less risk. Databricks is benefiting from an unprecedented global demand for AI apps and agents, turning companies’ data into goldmines. We’re thrilled this round is already over-subscribed and to partner with strategic, long-term investors who share our vision for the future of AI.”

Databricks itself has become a goldmine. The firm hit a $4 billion revenue run-rate during Q2, representing growth of over 50% year-on-year, whilst its AI products alone have recently surpassed a $1 billion revenue run-rate.

And there’s more to come. The company plans to expand Agent Bricks—a product that builds production AI agents optimised on enterprise data—and launch Lakebase, a new category of operational databases optimised for AI agents.

Databricks has inked partnerships with major technology companies, including Microsoft, Google Cloud, Anthropic, SAP, and Palantir, making it an integral part of the AI ecosystem.

This is an IPO to keep an eye out for.

GenIP has inked a strategic partnership with Chile’s GreenTech Innovation Platform, positioning the AI analytics firm as the official provider of technology transfer services.

The agreement builds on GenIP’s expansion into South America after recently securing its first contracts in Brazil.

The firm, which specialises in generative artificial intelligence services for research organisations and corporations, will now have direct access to more than 400 potential clients through the platform. This network includes universities, businesses, entrepreneurs and public sector bodies focused on sustainable innovation across commerce, services and tourism.

GenIP’s appointment comes as part of the platform’s broader partnership with Universidad Autónoma de Chile. GenIP will offer its AI-powered evaluation, commercialisation and talent-matching solutions to the growing regional innovation ecosystem.

The GreenTech platform provides continuing education tools, events, recruitment services and funding opportunities. Its flagship InnovaSprint programme offers $2 million in funding for successful innovation projects.

The partnership gives GenIP access to what it describes as “a high-quality pipeline” of clients seeking to commercialise their innovations using generative AI technology.

“Being named the official technology transfer partner to such a well-connected innovation platform positions GenIP at the heart of a vibrant and expanding market in Latin America,” said Melissa Cruz, CEO of GenIP.

“This partnership provides direct access to over 400 potential clients and collaborators, supporting our strategy to drive growth through high-value global networks.”

Sainsbury’s has announced that Argos disposal talks with JD.com are over, with the parties failing to reach mutually agreeable terms.

A flurry of reports over the weekend suggested that Argos was readying a deal to offload its Argos business to JD.com. However, Sainsbury’s has ended talks with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com over a potential sale of Argos after the buyer demanded “materially revised” terms that were deemed not in shareholders’ best interests.

The supermarket chain confirmed it had terminated discussions following media speculation about the deal on 13 September. JD.com’s revised proposals included new terms and commitments that Sainsbury’s said would not benefit shareholders, staff or other stakeholders.

Argos remains Britain’s second-largest general merchandise retailer. It operates the UK’s third most popular retail website and more than 1,100 collection points nationwide.

However, the business has not achieved the potential that investors may have expected under Sainsbury’s ownership, and a sale would allow the group to focus on its grocery business.

Despite the obvious benefits of disposing of Argos, Sainsbury’s said it remains committed to Argos’s future through its “More Argos, more often” transformation strategy, which aims to expand product ranges and enhance digital capabilities. The retailer reported that Argos had traded in line with expectations over the summer, aided by favourable weather conditions.

First-half sales and profitability showed improvement compared to the same period last year, when second-quarter sales were inflated by clearance activities.

The supermarket giant maintains its financial guidance for 2025/26, expecting retail underlying operating profit of around £1bn and retail free cash flow exceeding £500m.