Top UK Shares For 2023

Popular UK stocks to consider this year.

Last Updated December 29th 2022
6 Min Read

All of the British shares listed below are well worth considering adding to your portfolio. Some will add growth, some will provide healthy dividends, and some simply provide stability and long-term prospects in increasingly uncertain market conditions.

If you want to buy UK stocks quickly and easily, with 0% Commission, check out eToro Exchange!

Top UK Shares For 2023:

Imperial Brands Group

To start with a solid dividend pick, Imperial Brands Group definitely looks like a tempting UK prospect at the moment. Formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group, Imperial Brands make almost all of their money from the sale of cigarettes but the company is also increasingly looking to find other revenue streams. 

The Imperial Brands stock is expected to yield a massive 8.7% dividend this year, putting it near the top of the FTSE index when the constituent shares are ranked by dividend yield. 

Imperial Brands obviously face a long-term danger that cigarette sales will continue to decline in developed markets. However, with an ambitious diversification strategy and fat margins, there are good reasons to think Imperial will stay as a UK dividend aristocrat for years to come.

For example, Imperial Brands recently announced a research and development partnership with Auxly Cannabis Group, a listed Canadian cannabis company. 

As part of the partnership, Imperial will invest up to £75 million into R&D projects with Auxly as well as granting Auxly global licenses to use Imperial’s vaping technology and access to its innovation business Nerudia.  For these reasons, and especially because they are looking to the future, Imperial Brands are one of our top British shares for 2023.

Read Also: 5 of the Best UK Dividend Stocks to Buy

Quantum Blockchain Technologies

For investors hungry for growth, and willing to accept a bit more risk to get it, our top UK share for 2021 is Quantum Blockchain Technologies.

Listed on AIM, where small-cap UK firms go public, Quantum Blockchain Technologies is a cutting-edge quantum computing and AI company that both develop their own tech as well as investing in other promising startups in the blockchain space.

Shares are currently changing hands for mere pennies, but Quantum Blockchain Technologies have several ambitious projects underway. For example, Quantum are involved with a crowdfunding scheme in Italy, an 3D modeling company in Israel, and a legal data-mining company.

All these and Quantum’s other incubator projects are at very early stages and in risky new industries, but If any one of these succeeds, then Quantum could well turn out to be one of the growth stories of the decade.

Computacenter

Next up, a tech stock with big upside potential. IT services firm Computacenter said first half of 2021 pretax profits will be around 50% higher than the year before. 

This fantastic result gives analysts following the group confidence that it can deliver its 17th consecutive year of earnings growth in 2021. 

These numbers have already propelled Computacenter shares up, but this one has long-term potential above and beyond its recent bounce.

The Computacenter company has a strong presence in the US, UK and Germany, and has further plans to expand into other developed markets soon.

Essentially, companies with a proven track record of growth like this are always worth a close look, and Computacenter does live up to expectations when you look at the company fundamentals. 

Computacenter UK tech success story is definitely one of the British shares for 2023 to watch.

AstraZeneca

Despite gaining just 2% over the last year, well behind the FTSE 100 average, AstraZeneca is not to be ignored. The reasons the share is worth including in this list are that it is still a reliable dividend payer, its strong market position in China, and the steady pipeline of new drugs the company is developing.

Firstly with the dividend, it currently sits around 3.2%, but this is expected by analysts to grow to 4.3% over the next two years.

This is a healthy enough yield, and alone this could make AZ shares worth a close look. However, the really important thing is that the business that brought us the cheapest and easiest to manufacture Covid vaccine has a very bright looking future.

This means future dividends are not likely to be cut, but should be expanded. The continuing growth in China and other emerging markets has been a bonanza for AstraZeneca, and they have seen sales in these markets soar for years now. 

This trend is set to continue, and the fact that numerous new drugs are in development and due to hit the market in the next few years reinforces this positive impression.

Check Out: 5 UK Growth Stocks To Buy Today

Kanabo Group

Investors have been poised for the legalization of medical cannabis to shake-up commercial markets for some time now. Although it does look like a question of when and not if, it is still unclear how investors should position themselves to take advantage of this. Kanabo is a UK listed medical cannabis company that make products for sale in the UK and internationally.

The Kanabo company’s USP is a metered dosage inhalation device. This allows prescriptions of medically exact quantities to be consumed for health challenges like pain management and stress release. This is a clean alternative to smoking it, and has made Kanabo’s device one of the most medically accepted ways patients can ingest cannabis for health reasons.

Still a highly speculative play, of course, but Kanabo could well be part of a huge future industry, and so worth taking a look at now.

Burberry Group

To end with something a bit less risky, but still with up-side potential, Burberry look set to have a great 2021 and beyond.

The clothing brand, which was founded all the way back in 1856, has certainly survived much worse than Covid, and is set to rebound strongly this year with more and more people returning to the high street.

Burberry has tasty profit margins and a healthy balance sheet, both of which suggest the brand can more than cope with the current difficulties the retail sector is facing.

Burberry also benefits from brand loyalty, as well as being globally recognizable, and the share deserves to be included as a British stock to pick for 2023.

eToro - Buy Top UK Shares with 0% Commission

etoro broker

eToro have proven themselves trustworthy within the stock market over many years – we recommend you try them out.

Your capital is at risk. Other fees may apply

Read More:

7 UK Shares To Buy Now With £5,000

Best UK Shares To Buy As The Market Melts Down

7 Cheap UK Dividend Shares to Buy

Best Growth Stocks UK

Best Blue Chip Stocks UK