Missed Rolls Royce share price run? 2 FTSE alternatives
Investors who missed the Rolls Royce share price surge still have options. The stock is up roughly 1,320% over five years and trades near 1,446p, but two UK names — Raspberry Pi and Filtronic — are pitched as fresher growth stories after recent pullbacks.
Rolls-Royce has been the FTSE 100’s standout recovery story since the pandemic lows. That run leaves latecomers asking whether the easy money is gone — and what else on the UK market might still be early in its journey. For more ideas in this lane, see our Wealth Hacks & Passive Income hub.
Key Takeaways
- The Rolls Royce share price has returned about 1,320%–1,338% over roughly five years, turning a £10,000 stake into around £142,000 on that five-year measure.
- £500 invested a year ago would be worth about £715 after a roughly 43% gain, plus around £5 in dividends at a thin 0.7% yield.
- At about 1,446p and nearly £120bn in market value, consensus one-year targets imply only modest upside near 6%.
- Raspberry Pi (LSE:RPI) is framed as an AI/edge growth play after more than doubling year to date; Filtronic (LSE:FTC) is a SpaceX/Starlink supplier that has slumped about 44% in two months.
- Both alternatives carry clear risks — rich valuation and memory costs for Raspberry Pi, and SpaceX customer concentration for Filtronic.
How far has the Rolls Royce share price really come?
According to coverage on Yahoo Finance UK, Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) is up a staggering 1,320% over the past five years. On that path, £10,000 would have grown to about £142,000.
Another take puts the gain since mid-2021 near 1,338%, with no FTSE 100 peer remotely close. Over a longer multi-year window cited elsewhere, the shares rose about 1,311% while the FTSE 100 gained 54%.
The climb looks even sharper from the trough. In October 2020 the shares hit a 17-year low around 113p, with market value below £2.5bn. Today they trade at 1,446p and the market capitalisation is almost £120bn.
The past year has been quieter by comparison. Gains of roughly 43%–44% still beat the FTSE 100’s about 20% rise, but that only ranks Rolls around 19th among the index’s best performers over 12 months — a reminder that the explosive phase has cooled.
Is it too late to buy Rolls-Royce shares now?
Bulls still point to strength across Civil Aerospace, Power Systems and Defence. The group also has a longer-dated push into small modular reactors, with commitments linked to the Swedish, Czech and British governments, plus ambitions in narrow-body aircraft engines that CEO Tufan Erginbilgic says could support up to 40,000 well-paid UK jobs if policy backing materialises.
Valuation is the sticking point. The forward price-to-earnings ratio sits near 48 — down from about 65 earlier this year, but still demanding. One columnist notes that plenty of good news looks priced in; another stays on the sidelines for lack of a margin of safety.
Street sentiment remains warm. Of 19 analysts rating the stock in a recent three-month window, 15 said Strong Buy, one Buy and three Hold, with no Sell or Strong Sell calls. Seventeen analysts’ one-year forecasts cluster around a 1,526p consensus target — roughly 6% above recent levels if that guess proves right.
Risks flagged include travel disruption, supply chains, jet fuel costs, a slower global economy, weaker airline demand and any earnings miss that could unwind a rich multiple. Dividends remain a sideshow: the yield is about 0.7%.
Which two FTSE shares are pitched as the next chapter?
For investors who feel they missed Rolls-Royce’s historic run, one widely syndicated note highlights two UK names that “may just be getting started” — and could even outperform Rolls over the next five years, in that author’s view.
Raspberry Pi (LSE:RPI) is the FTSE 250 tech firm best known for single-board computers. Its kit is also used to run lightweight AI models and edge applications on-device. The AI HAT+ 2 board, for example, can run large language models and vision language models. That AI angle has helped the share price more than double year to date.
Revenue is expected to almost double this year to about $608m, with earnings per share growth near 60%. Unit trends were already strong, including US growth of 56% and China growth of 62%. In 2025, semiconductor units rose 47% to 8.4m and, for the first time, topped single-board computers and modules at 7.6m.
Caveats matter. A memory chip shortage is expected to last into 2027, pressuring margins as costs are passed to customers. The forward P/E around 50 prices in continued profit acceleration. Shares have also fallen 35% from a recent peak — a dip the same author recently used to buy, while warning that volatility is the norm.
Filtronic (LSE:FTC), from the FTSE AIM 100, supplies radio communications gear and has a partnership with SpaceX for Starlink components. SpaceX aims to grow its constellation from about 10,000 satellites today to more than 42,000. Filtronic is also expanding from ground systems into satellite payload hardware.
The stock is still up about 2,300% over five years, yet it has crashed roughly 44% in just two months — closer to a near-50% drawdown on that note’s framing. The biggest risk is customer concentration: SpaceX accounts for the vast bulk of revenue. After the sell-off, the author sees a more favourable risk/reward and flags levels around 260p as worth a closer look, alongside a push into defence to diversify sales.
What should investors weigh before chasing the next Rolls?
Past performance is not a promise of future returns. Rolls-Royce’s recovery from pandemic distress was extraordinary; repeating that percentage gain from a near-£120bn valuation is a different mathematical challenge.
Raspberry Pi offers AI and edge exposure with rapid top-line expectations, but a high multiple and component-cost headwinds. Filtronic ties investors to a booming space and defence theme via Starlink, yet one dominant customer can cut both ways.
None of this is personalised advice. Share prices move on earnings, contracts and sentiment that can change quickly. Anyone comparing the Rolls Royce share price with these smaller growth names should size positions carefully, stress-test the risks above, and treat analyst targets and columnist picks as opinions — not guarantees.