Should you buy these rising FTSE 250 stocks today?
Not automatically. Raspberry Pi and CMC Markets have surged 165% and 141% in 2026, but memory-cost and trading-cycle risks remain. Treat FTSE 250 winners as research leads, not buy-now tips, and weigh high-yield income names such as OSB Group and Foresight Environmental Infrastructure carefully. While the broader mid-cap index has lagged blue chips this year, a handful of FTSE 250 names have quietly exploded — and income hunters still have options beyond the high-flyers.
Key Takeaways
- Raspberry Pi (LSE:RPI) is up about 165% since January 2026 after upgrading full-year EBITDA guidance well above the $42m consensus.
- CMC Markets (LSE:CMCX) has risen roughly 141% on partnership-driven guidance that lifts 2027 net operating income expectations to at least £550m.
- Both stocks carry clear risks: memory-cost pressure for Raspberry Pi and trading-volume cyclicality for CMC Markets.
- Income-focused FTSE 250 ideas in recent coverage include OSB Group (around 6.5% yield) and Foresight Environmental Infrastructure (about 9.4%).
- High yields can signal risk as much as opportunity — dig into cover, gearing, and sector headwinds before buying.
Which FTSE 250 stocks are up more than 140%?
According to analysis published by The Twelfth Magpie on 20 July 2026, the FTSE 250 has broadly lagged the FTSE 100 this year — yet that headline hides standout winners.
Cambridge-based Raspberry Pi, known for its credit-card-sized computers, has surged 165% since January. Online trading platform CMC Markets is up 141% over the same stretch. Both are described as small-cap-turned-mid-cap businesses that stunned the market with back-to-back earnings upgrades.
That kind of move raises the obvious question for investors chasing momentum: is the best still ahead, or has the easy money already been made?
Why has Raspberry Pi surged — and what could go wrong?
Raspberry Pi listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2024 and has shifted from a charity-adjacent education project toward industrial computing. Its latest trading update pointed to more than 4 million units expected in the first half of 2026 and a full-year EBITDA guidance upgrade significantly above the market consensus of $42m.
Demand from OEM customers building AI edge computing and industrial automation systems is cited as the main driver. With AI-related spending still accelerating, that tailwind has looked durable — at least so far.
The caution flag is memory. Raspberry Pi has been using stockpiled memory to keep manufacturing costs low, but those stockpiles are running down. Rising sector memory prices could compress gross margins in the second half of 2026. After such a sharp rally, a profitability shock could trigger a painful sell-off.
Is CMC Markets still worth buying after a 141% rally?
CMC Markets lets retail and institutional clients trade CFDs, spread bets, and other broking products. Transaction fees normally track trading activity, but 2026 momentum is also tied to new partnerships that let third parties use CMC’s platform instead of building their own infrastructure.
That low-effort, high-margin stream helped drive a guidance upgrade for the 2027 fiscal year ending in March: net operating income is now expected to be at least £550m, versus earlier guidance of £460m–£480m.
Structurally, though, the firm still depends on trading volumes. Volatile markets can boost activity today; cooler conditions later could slow or reverse growth. That cyclical risk is why a 141% year-to-date gain does not, by itself, answer whether to buy today.
What about FTSE 250 income stocks for passive cash flow?
Not every mid-cap story is a growth rocket. For readers building wealth hacks and passive income strategies, recent coverage also highlights high-yielding FTSE 250 names.
Specialist mortgage lender OSB Group (LSE:OSB), behind brands such as Kent Reliance and OneSavingsBank, has been flagged with a roughly 6%–7% yield. Its latest full-year dividend of 35.3p implies about £3,530 of income on 10,000 shares — a stake that would cost around £54,700 at about 547p a share, as Yahoo Finance UK reporting notes.
OSB’s 2025 full-year picture included a 5% dividend rise to 35.3p, a £100m buyback, a payout ratio around 46%–49%, cash coverage of 2.83 times, and 12 years of ordinary dividends. Management has also guided for another 5% dividend increase in 2026. The flip side: as a specialist UK mortgage lender, OSB is highly exposed to the housing market, arrears, and property-price swings.
Separately, Foresight Environmental Infrastructure (LSE:FGEN), a FTSE 250 investment trust with 39 environmental infrastructure assets, has been cited at a 9.4% yield. A £10,000 lump sum buying about 11,765 shares was framed as unlocking roughly £940 of passive income. Latest results for the 2026 fiscal year ending March showed a 6.2% NAV total return, a 7.96p dividend target met with 1.25x cover, and gearing of 28.8% versus many peers above 40%.
That sky-high yield partly reflects renewables uncertainty — softer long-term power-price forecasts and subsidy changes. Management has used buybacks, but the author of that piece still preferred safer income alternatives over treating FGEN as an automatic buy.
Should you buy these rising FTSE 250 stocks today?
The honest answer from the source coverage is investigate further, not chase the chart. Raspberry Pi and CMC Markets have delivered extraordinary 2026 gains on real earnings upgrades, yet memory inflation and trading-cycle risk remain live issues after triple-digit moves.
Income seekers can look across the same index — OSB Group’s covered mid-single-digit yield and Foresight’s 9.4% payout are examples — while remembering that unusual yields often price in genuine uncertainty. Diversifying across sectors, as OSB-focused commentary suggests with names such as Harbour Energy, Greencoat UK Wind, and Primary Health Properties, can reduce single-stock blow-up risk.
This is not personalised advice. Share prices, dividends, and guidance can change quickly. Cross-check the latest filings, size positions you can hold through volatility, and treat 140%+ rallies as a prompt to do homework — not a green light to buy blindly.