Deutsche Bank upgrades Haleon to 'hold' from 'sell'

30th Oct 2026 13:35

(Sharecast News) - Deutsche Bank upgraded Haleon on Friday to 'hold' from 'sell' but cut the price target to 310p from 320p after the consumer healthcare company's results a day earlier.

The bank said weakness in second-half organic growth is the culmination of structural industry changes and poor strategic and operational execution.

"There are 'one-offs' in the weaker growth but the base line of performance in our view is not strong enough," it said. "We believe that Haleon needs a strategic reset. From our perspective, the company has too much of what consumers need and not enough of what they want."

DB said the strategic decisions by the company to focus on EBIT growth and missing the growth of categories like hydration have been missteps and what would likely be more effective is "a step up the cadence of innovation and perhaps more focus on consumer and less on health".

Haleon shares tumbled on Thursday after it cut its full-year organic revenue growth guidance, pointing to soft third-quarter cold and flu sales.

The company said it now expects 2026 organic revenue growth of around 2.5%, down from previous guidance of 3% to 5%.

In the three months to September end, organic revenue growth was 2.6%, below the company's expectations, with price up 2.1% and volume/mix up 0.5%.

The maker of Sensodyne and Panadol hailed continued strength in Oral Health - which saw an 8.8% rise in organic revenue to £930m - but said its performance was held back by soft cold and flu consumption, which led to lower orders in North America.