- The trend backdrop is active with a 1-week active streak.
- Price is above the Trend Line, keeping the weekly tape constructive.
- Activity pressure is positive on the latest completed week.
- Volume is elevated versus the 13-week average, confirming attention.
HAS
LSE
Week ended 07 Aug 2026
Weekly Investor Report
Hays plc · Industrials · Staffing & Employment Services
Latest close
0.66 GBP
16.9%
latest week
Weekly setup
Constructive, but selective
The weekly trend is active. Price is 64.9% above the Trend Line and sits at 96.5% of its 52-week range. The latest completed week returned 16.9%, after a 53.7% four-week move. The latest factor snapshot indicates quality is middle-of-the-pack; growth is moderate; valuation is neither clearly cheap nor expensive. The latest news-sentiment score is 50/100. Near-term considerations: price is close to its 52-week high.
Setup score
58
out of 100
Latest Close
0.66 GBP
7 Aug 2026
1W Return
16.9%
latest completed week
4W Return
53.7%
short-term follow-through
12W Return
120.0%
quarterly tape
Trend Breadth
1.9%
1 of 52 weeks active
Volume Ratio
1.6x
vs 13-week average
- Price is below Fair Value, so the market is still discounting the latest tape.
- Next-week expectancy is negative at 41.79% based on similar historical setup states.
- Activity pressure is weak, so confirmation is not yet broad enough.
- Recent volatility is running well above the one-year baseline.
- Price is close to its 52-week high; watch for continuation or exhaustion.
- Trend Line remains the key weekly regime level.
- Activity pressure is the gauge to monitor for confirmation or fade.
- A volume ratio above 1.5x would show stronger participation in the next move.
Price follow-through
16.9%
Latest completed week; four-week move 53.7%.
Indicator stack
5/86
Trend and activity pressure are weighted against the latest 12-week confirmation window.
Trend backdrop
Active
The trend backdrop defines the current weekly regime.
Patient Capital
Recent
Activity-pressure buy-signal status for institutional accumulation timing.
Next-Week Expectancy
Negative 41.79%
Historical one-week expectancy contributes to the evidence score when direction is confirmed.
News sentiment
50/100
6 relevant articles in the latest sentiment read.
01 · Price action
Study the full chart
Where price is—and whether the trend supports it
The weekly trend is active. Price is 64.9% above the Trend Line and sits at 96.5% of its 52-week range. The latest completed week returned 16.9%, after a 53.7% four-week move.
52-week price path
Price vs Trend Line and Fair Value
Price
Trend Line
Fair Value
02 · Volume and demand
Is real participation confirming the move?
Latest weekly volume is 1.6x the 13-week average. Participation is unusually strong and confirms that the move is attracting attention.
26-week volume confirmation
Bar height shows volume; colour shows the weekly price direction
13 Feb
20 Feb
27 Feb
6 Mar
13 Mar
20 Mar
27 Mar
3 Apr
10 Apr
17 Apr
24 Apr
1 May
8 May
15 May
22 May
29 May
5 Jun
12 Jun
19 Jun
26 Jun
3 Jul
10 Jul
17 Jul
24 Jul
31 Jul
7 Aug
Up week
Down week
Demand beneath price
Activity pressure and institutional-style signals
These indicators assess whether participation is improving beneath the headline price move. They are supporting evidence, not proof of institutional buying.
Activity pressure path
Latest 0.3412-week average 0.11
12-week confirmation
Trend active1/12Active trend-backdrop weeks in the latest 12-week window.
Positive pressure10/12Weeks with constructive activity pressure in the latest 12-week window.
Positive leadership4/12Weeks with positive relative leadership in the latest 12-week window.
Activity pressure0.34Current proprietary activity-pressure read.
Buy signals1Accumulation signal count in the latest 12 weeks.
Reversal markers0No reversal markers
No recent accumulation markers. No reversal markers.
03 · Momentum and leadership
Is performance persistent—and is the stock leading?
Performance is 53.7% over four weeks, 120.0% over 12 weeks, and 3.3% over one year. The current trend has remained active for 1 consecutive weeks.
Performance by holding period
Active trend streak1 weeks
Active weeks in one year1
Trend breadth1.9%
Activity pressure vs relative leadership
Activity pressureRelative leadership
Pressure1.52Latest activity-pressure read.
Pressure change109.1%Four-week change in activity pressure.
Leadership27.61Latest relative-leadership reading.
RS change272.7%Four-week change in relative leadership.
04 · Fundamentals and valuation
Open full factor analysis
What investors are paying for—and the quality behind it
The latest factor snapshot indicates quality is middle-of-the-pack; growth is moderate; valuation is neither clearly cheap nor expensive.
Factor week 09 Aug 2026
Financial statements through 31 Dec 2025
Field coverage 42%
Model confidence 34%
Relative factor standing
Higher display scores are better. Each score is converted from the underlying universe rank, where rank 1 is best.
Overall factor strength57/100Blend of value, momentum, and quality. Underlying universe rank 44; rank 1 is best.
Value53/100Relative valuation strength. Underlying universe rank 48; rank 1 is best.
Quality55/100Profitability and accounting quality. Underlying universe rank 46; rank 1 is best.
Momentum55/100Medium-term price momentum. Underlying universe rank 46; rank 1 is best.
Growth55/100Revenue and earnings growth. Underlying universe rank 46; rank 1 is best.
Quality and valuation are separate questions
A strong company can still carry a demanding valuation. This report shows profitability, growth, balance-sheet strength, and the price paid for those characteristics separately.
Valuation
How much investors are paying for earnings, sales, and cash flow.
- P/E
- - Price divided by trailing earnings.
- Price / sales
- - Market value relative to trailing revenue.
- EV / EBITDA
- - Enterprise value relative to operating cash earnings.
- Free-cash-flow yield
- - Free cash flow as a share of enterprise value.
Business quality
Margins and the return generated on invested capital.
- Gross margin
- - Gross profit retained from each unit of revenue.
- Operating margin
- - Operating profit retained from revenue.
- Free-cash-flow margin
- - Free cash flow generated from revenue.
- Return on invested capital
- - Operating return generated on invested capital.
Growth and financial strength
Recent business growth and accounting strength.
- Revenue growth
- - Latest one-year revenue growth.
- EPS growth
- - Latest one-year earnings-per-share growth.
- Free-cash-flow growth
- - Latest one-year free-cash-flow growth.
- Piotroski F-score
- 0/9 Nine-point accounting-strength checklist.
Shareholder return and balance sheet
Cash returned to owners and financial leverage.
- Dividend yield
- 66.7% Cash dividends relative to market value.
- Buyback yield
- 0.0% Net share repurchases relative to market value.
- Shareholder yield
- 66.7% Dividend yield plus net buyback yield.
- Net debt / EBITDA
- - Balance-sheet debt relative to operating cash earnings.
05 · Ownership, options, and sentiment
What other market participants are doing
Options, insider transactions, market sentiment, and activity-pressure signals can confirm or challenge the price story. None should be used alone.
Insider activity-
No recent insider transactions are stored for this company.
News sentiment50/100
Weighted news tone is neutral across 6 relevant articles.
0 positive · 6 neutral · 0 negativePatient CapitalRecent
Activity-pressure buy-signal evidence highlights potential institutional accumulation windows.
Recent buy signal in the last 8 weeks
06 · Catalysts and risk
What can move the shares—and how volatile the path has been
Event timing, options-implied movement, drawdown, and weekly return distribution frame the risk around the current setup.
Next earnings-No event is currently stored.
Options expected move-Nearest-chain priced movement where available.
52-week drawdown-2.0%Distance below the 52-week high.
13-week volatility11.5%Standard deviation of weekly returns.
Weekly gains and losses
Latest 26 completed weeksEach bar is one week. Gains rise above the zero line; losses fall below it. Taller bars mean a larger weekly move.
13 Feb
13 Mar
10 Apr
8 May
5 Jun
3 Jul
7 Aug
Weeks higher14 of 2612 weeks finished lower.
Best week+27.0%Week of 17 Jul.
Worst week-13.3%Week of 15 May.
Latest week+16.9%Week of 7 Aug.
Shape of recent returns
Strong gains11
Modest gains3
Flat weeks0
Modest losses4
Sharp losses8
Recent vol11.5%13-week weekly-return volatility.
Base vol7.8%52-week weekly-return volatility.
Up/down split27/24Count of positive and negative weeks in the 52-week window.
Average skew5.6% / -5.6%Average positive week versus average negative week.
07 · Sector and peer context
Is this stock leading—or simply moving with its group?
Sector and industry breadth distinguish company-specific strength from a broad group move.
SectorGB Industrials
4-week rank3 / 100
Group average9.1%
Trend breadth46.0%
Trend46.0%active weekly trend signals
MD65.0%positive activity pressure
RS50.0%positive relative leadership
Four-week leaders
IndustryGB Staffing & Employment Services
4-week rank2 / 10
Group average29.1%
Trend breadth40.0%
Trend40.0%active weekly trend signals
MD80.0%positive activity pressure
RS40.0%positive relative leadership
Four-week leaders
08 · Evidence and weekly data
The underlying research record
Every top-level statement above should be traceable to a stored market, fundamental, event, or positioning observation.
Weekly tape49/100
Trend, activity pressure, participation, and risk combine to a 49/100 tape read.
Indicator analysis40/100Latest 12-week confirmation: trend 1/12, activity pressure 10/12, relative leadership 4/12.
Activity pressure 0.34; No reversal markers Next-Week ExpectancyNegative 41.79%Next-week expectancy is negative with a 41.79% historical one-week setup read.
Adds short-term historical context without overriding trend, activity, or relative leadership. Factors54/100O'Shaughnessy factor stack blends value, quality, momentum, and confidence.
Buyback Yield rank 59 Patient CapitalRecentActivity-pressure buy-signal evidence highlights potential institutional accumulation windows.
Recent buy signal in the last 8 weeks Sentiment50/100Weighted news tone is neutral across 6 relevant articles.
HAS Stock Price and Chart — LSE:HAS Insiders50/100No recent insider transaction evidence is stored.
Earnings50/100No stored earnings event is currently attached to this ticker.
| Week | Close | Return | Trend Line | Fair Value | Pressure | Leadership | Volume | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Aug 2026 | 0.66 GBP | 16.9% | 0.40 GBP | 0.72 GBP | 1.52 | 27.61 | 34.7M | On |
| 31 Jul 2026 | 0.56 GBP | -3.3% | 0.40 GBP | 0.72 GBP | 1.48 | 9.03 | 43.1M | Off |
| 24 Jul 2026 | 0.58 GBP | 7.1% | 0.39 GBP | 0.73 GBP | 1.20 | 13.47 | 26.3M | Off |
| 17 Jul 2026 | 0.55 GBP | 27.0% | 0.39 GBP | 0.73 GBP | 0.96 | 6.56 | 39.4M | Off |
| 10 Jul 2026 | 0.43 GBP | 25.1% | 0.39 GBP | 0.73 GBP | 0.73 | -15.99 | 22.5M | Off |
| 3 Jul 2026 | 0.34 GBP | 2.2% | 0.40 GBP | 0.74 GBP | 0.54 | -34.86 | 2.2M | Off |
| 26 Jun 2026 | 0.34 GBP | 2.2% | 0.40 GBP | 0.74 GBP | 0.56 | -36.30 | 10.9M | Off |
| 19 Jun 2026 | 0.33 GBP | -11.0% | 0.41 GBP | 0.74 GBP | 0.46 | -37.95 | 20.3M | Off |
| 12 Jun 2026 | 0.37 GBP | 6.2% | 0.42 GBP | 0.75 GBP | 0.25 | -32.09 | 4.2M | Off |
| 5 Jun 2026 | 0.35 GBP | 5.2% | 0.43 GBP | 0.75 GBP | 0.02 | -36.51 | 17.4M | Off |
| 29 May 2026 | 0.33 GBP | 5.6% | 0.43 GBP | 0.75 GBP | -0.17 | -40.87 | 15.0M | Off |
| 22 May 2026 | 0.31 GBP | 4.3% | 0.44 GBP | 0.76 GBP | -0.37 | -45.27 | 18.4M | Off |
| 15 May 2026 | 0.30 GBP | -13.3% | 0.45 GBP | 0.76 GBP | -0.55 | -47.04 | 26.0M | Off |
| 8 May 2026 | 0.35 GBP | 1.7% | 0.46 GBP | 0.77 GBP | -0.63 | -40.25 | 18.3M | Off |
How to use this report
This is a completed-week research summary. It explains the available evidence and its conflicts; it does not predict a guaranteed outcome or replace your own risk assessment. Fundamental figures may refer to an earlier financial reporting period, which is shown above.