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Kainos Group

KNOS.L
72
Software - Application · Technology
Price
1,294.00 GBp
+28.00 (+2.21%)
Market Cap
£1.49B
Exchange
London Stock Exchange
Winston Score
72
Winston is happy
A high-quality business with solid fundamentals.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Mar 31, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Good
Growth
Good
Cash Flow
Exceptional
Stability
Exceptional
Valuation
Good
Dividends
Strong

Share count falling — buybacks

3.4% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 125.3M (2022) → 121.1M (2026)

Winston Score History

The full picture

Kainos Group is a UK-based technology company that builds software and digital services for governments and healthcare organizations. Its two main businesses are Workday Services — helping large employers set up and run the Workday HR and finance software platform — and Digital Services, which builds custom digital tools for public sector clients like the UK's National Health Service and various government departments. Kainos is one of the largest Workday implementation partners in Europe.

The company earns money through professional services fees for project work and, increasingly, through its own software products sold on subscription, including a testing tool called Smart that works inside the Workday ecosystem. Kainos operates mainly in the UK and Ireland, with a growing presence in Europe and North America, and generates roughly £400 million in annual revenue. Its deep specialization in Workday creates a strong but narrow moat — the key risk is that its growth is closely tied to Workday's own sales momentum, meaning a slowdown at Workday would directly pressure Kainos's pipeline.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+27.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue accelerating

EPS Growth

+123.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

£19M/ year

Rising (+11% vs prior year)

4.3% of revenue

Below sector average (15%)

R&D investment increasing — building for the future

Insider Activity

30.5%ownership

Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

£88M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

→ Burn rate stable

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue accelerating

Kainos Group grew revenue 28% year-over-year and the growth rate is speeding up. That's the kind of momentum growth investors look for — the question is whether margins can follow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
44.6%
Healthy — 44.6% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
10.5%
Modest — 10.5% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
48.1%
Exceptional — 48.1% return on capital

ROIC above 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns more than 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+17.4%
Fast-growing sales (+17.4% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
+24.8%
Earnings growing fast (+24.8% YoY)

Healthy double-digit earnings growth — what compounders look like.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
5/8 quarters
Mixed — about half the quarters showed growth

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
143%
Turns 143% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
12.2%
Converts sales into free cash efficiently (12.2%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.01
Conservative — low debt load (0.01)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
127.62x
Comfortably covers interest (127.6x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
37.0x
Pricey — P/E 37.0

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
+17.4
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (37.0 → 19.6)

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Dividends

Dividend
Dividend Yield
2.31%
Moderate income — 2.31% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend record
Dividend Growth
+13.3%
Dividend growing fast (13.3% YoY)

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