UK shares: the Audioboom and Gear4music share prices rise as trading beats forecasts!

These UK shares are rising in value after fresh trading announcements. Here are the key reasons why they’ve jumped again.

Podcast powerhouse

Forecast upgrades at Audioboom (LSE: BOOM) have given the podcast giant’s share price a modest bump in Tuesday’s session. Up half a percent on the day, the company is 344% more expensive that it was a year ago.

Audioboom has said that it will “generate revenues significantly in excess of current market expectations” this year. And it expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to exceed 2020 levels too. Signed advertising bookings in the first half now account for almost all the recently upwardly revised sales expectations for the whole year, it said.

Audioboom said that the upgrade has been “driven by recent developments in relation to Audioboom’s content-focussed expansion plan.” It noted that improvements to its advertising tech capabilities and associated revenue streams have enabled the re-monetisation of its content back catalogue.

The UK media share has been able to increase average advertising unit pricing by 22% versus the same 2020 period thanks to high demand for premium ads. Audioboom has also achieved a fill rate north of 97% on its top 15 shows so far in 2021.

The business has also continued to grow its audience through new content partnerships and new show launches on its Audioboom Originals Network like Dark History. This particular show topped the Apple Podcast Chart in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia following its release in early June, with episode one attracting more than 2m views.

According to the Triton Digital Podcast Report, Audioboom is the fourth-largest podcast publisher in the US by weekly reach. And the UK share has increased its weekly reach by 69% from the corresponding 2020 period.

Another UK share beating expectations

The release of solid financials has helped the Gear4music (LSE: G4M) share price rise too. Up 2% on Tuesday, the UK retail share has gained 144% in value over the last 12 months.

Gear4music — which sells musical instruments and sound equipment online — has benefited greatly from the e-commerce explosion following the coronavirus outbreak. Revenues here shot 31% higher year-on-year during the 12 months to March 2021, to £157.5m. This helped pre-tax profit soar to £14.6m from £3.1m a year earlier.

The number of active customers at the retailer jumped 32% from financial 2020 levels, to 1.06m. Chief executive Andrew Wass said the business “is in a strong position to build upon the significant success” of last year, too, as it develops its bespoke e-commerce platform and opens new distribution centres in Ireland and Spain.

Gear4music also said trading in the first two months of the new financial year had been better than expected. The retailer is retaining “a good proportion” of last year’s gross margin gain. All the means Gear4music now expects this year’s results to beat prior expectations.