Power Probe, founded in California in 1992, makes electrical diagnostic tools for professional car-repair technicians. It listed on London's AIM in December 2025 and in the first half of 2026 sold less ($17.7m against $21.2m) but kept far more of each sale, with gross margin at 50.4% against 40.8%. The shares have fallen from 100.5p at the end of December to 64.5p at the latest close on 16 October 2026.
Testers for the people who fix cars
Power Probe designs and sells more than 140 products that help service technicians trace electrical faults in vehicles. Its mission is "Simplifying Automotive Diagnostics". About 95% of 2025 revenue came from the US.
There are two business units. Power Probe-branded products brought in $16.2m in the first half of 2026. Private brands, where products are sold under other companies' names, brought in $1.5m. The company imports its products from Asia by sea and air. 14 Sep 2026 27 Apr 2026 11 Dec 2025
Growth, then a stock-market listing
The company grew for three decades before going public. In 2025 revenue rose 25.7% to $39.4m, and products launched in the previous three years made up 34.8% of sales, up from 15.5%. Six new products came out that year.
Power Probe also won places in the dealership programmes of car makers. Ford, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota were named for 2025, with GM and Stellantis following in early 2026. It opened a distribution centre in Nuneaton, UK, to serve the UK and selected European markets.
Growth cost margin. Gross margin fell to 40.0% from 44.5%, and adjusted EBITDA margin fell to 22.9% from 26.9%. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. The company has not said why gross margin fell. 27 Apr 2026 9 Feb 2026
The AIM float and its promises
On 11 December 2025 the company joined AIM at 82p a share, raising about $15m (£11.2m) of new money and valuing itself at £60m. The proceeds were earmarked for a US factory in Charlotte, North Carolina, engineering hires, the Nuneaton build-out and a pipeline of 15 new products available from 2026.
The shares reached 100.5p at the end of December. They then drifted down each month to 72p by March and 64p by August. 11 Dec 2025 27 Apr 2026
A smaller first half, a richer mix
Revenue in the first half of 2026 fell 16.6%. The company says this reflects the timing of new product launches and that the year is weighted to the second half, as it had guided. Private brands sales more than halved, to $1.5m from $3.3m, as the company deliberately dropped lower-margin legacy accounts. Branded sales fell 9.3%.
Gross profit still rose 3.2% to $8.9m, helped by the mix shift and price increases this year, which the company says the market absorbed. Costs rose faster. Overheads (general and administrative) roughly doubled to $3.9m, because of public-company costs and senior hires. Research and development spending rose to $0.5m from $0.1m. Adjusted EBITDA fell 30.6% to $3.8m. Of this, about $0.6m was extra listed-company cost. 14 Sep 2026 30 Jul 2026
Mix and pricing up, overheads up faster
Two forces explain the record. Product launches and dealership wins drove the 2025 growth. In 2026, a deliberate move away from low-margin private-brand work and higher prices lifted margin while shrinking sales.
Listing then added a cost base that sales have not yet covered. Revenue fell 17% in the first half while overheads rose, so profit after tax dropped to $2.0m from $3.4m. The company also booked $0.4m of one-off litigation costs in the half and has not described the case. 14 Sep 2026 27 Apr 2026
Spending ahead of sales, and buying back shares
Chema Garcia is chief executive, Michael Sherwin is chairman and Fabio Medina is finance chief. The board was strengthened before the IPO. Non-executive Jackie Ip co-founded MGL Group with Garcia. The company set up a new US manufacturing entity and is moving the Charlotte facility design forward. An SAP business-software system is due to go live at the start of Q4 2026.
Management has kept to its stated plan. It said gross margin would improve in 2026 through private-brand focus and pricing, and it did. It also said revenue would be weighted to the second half. The first dividend of 2.16 cents a share was paid in May, and an equal interim dividend was declared in September.
On 8 October the company announced a $1.0m share buyback to run to 31 December 2026. On 16 October it bought 100,000 shares at 64.26p. Directors have also bought shares, in small amounts. In March, five directors bought about £56k in total. In October, Garcia added 25,000 shares on 12 October and 230,000 shares (about £145k) on 15 October. 8 Oct 2026 16 Oct 2026 14 Sep 2026 27 Apr 2026 27 Mar 2026 12 Oct 2026 15 Oct 2026
Cash down, shares volatile
Cash was $13.0m at 30 June 2026, down from $15.3m at the end of 2025. Shareholders' equity was $20.7m. The company has not said what drove the cash fall.
The shares closed September at 45p, after the interim results of 14 September. The company has not said why. They stood at 64.5p at the latest close, 16 October. 14 Sep 2026 16 Oct 2026
Second-half launches must deliver
Management expects products launched late in the first half to add materially to second-half revenue and to support growth into 2027. It also expects the Charlotte plant to produce its first 'Made in USA' product, though it has given no date. It has said it expects growth in new territories and in car-maker dealership programmes.
The company has set no numeric revenue or profit target. The test is whether second-half sales recover enough to cover the higher cost base. Other open points are the pace of the 15-product pipeline stated at the IPO, the Charlotte spending and the SAP go-live.
In March the company said Middle East conflict had not disrupted its shipping routes. Its Asian supply chain remains central to the business. 14 Sep 2026 11 Dec 2025 27 Apr 2026
“Significant products launched towards the end of H1 2026 are expected to contribute materially to revenue in the second half of the year, while providing further opportunities for growth into FY27.” 14 Sep 2026
Written by AI from Power Probe PLC's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources