Week ahead: Sainsbury's, AB Foods updates due

26th Jun 2026 14:15

(Sharecast News) - Next week sees the release of trading updates from Sainsbury's and AB Foods, UK GDP data and the latest US non-farm payrolls report.

On Monday, investors will eye the release of UK consumer credit, mortgage approvals and net lending data for May.

Tuesday will bring a first-quarter trading statement from Sainsbury's, while Nike will report quarterly numbers in the US.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Sainsbury's results were largely as expected last year, with retail revenue rising 4.3% to £30bn.

"Growth was driven by a 5.2% uplift in grocery sales as improved products, value perception and initiatives like the Aldi price match helped the group gain market share from competitors," he said. "But Argos remained a drag on performance. Alongside rising cost pressures and weakening consumer backdrop, Sainsbury's issued an underwhelming outlook with the midpoint of full-year guidance pointing to flat underlying operating profits of £1.bn.

"Looking ahead to next week's first-quarter update, the picture's unlikely to have changed. The UK food market is proving resilient overall, and Sainsbury is executing well on its plan to put food first, which should see grocery sales trend higher. But the group's overexposure to general merchandise through its ownership of Argos is likely to hold back progress. Cost pressures remain a threat to monitor, but inflation has been surprisingly stable, and no changes are expected to full-year guidance yet."

On the macroeconomic front, first-quarter UK GDP figures and the US Chicago PMI for June will be among the highlights, along with JOLTS openings for May.

Wednesday will see the release of a trading update from Primark owner Associated British Foods.

HL's Chiekrie noted that ABF has faced some headwinds of late, causing total first-half sales to drop 2% to £9.5bn, ignoring exchange rates.

"Its crown jewel Primark, squeezed out modest 2% growth in the period, driven by new store openings. Meanwhile, Grocery revenue was flat, and all other divisions posted declines. But with costs rising across the board due to the Middle East conflict, underlying operations profits slumped 18% to £0.7bn.

"Analysts are not optimistic that momentum will have improved when ABF releases its third-quarter update next week. Primark's sales are likely to remain challenged, especially in continental Europe, where consumers appear to be pulling back more on discretionary spending. Full-year underlying operating profit guidance has already been downgraded to below last year's level of £1.7bn. But with markets currently forecasting a sharper 13% decline to £1.5bn, another downgrade next week shouldn't be ruled out."

Also in focus will be the S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI for June, along with the June RatingDog manufacturing PMI for China. Preliminary eurozone inflation data for June is also due.

On Thursday, full-year results from Baltic Classifieds and Currys are scheduled for release. AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould and Danni Hewson said electricals retailer Currys bucked a subdued retail sector after projecting stronger than expected full-year sales and profits.

"With the shares trading just shy of five-year highs, the focus now turns to incoming CEO Fredrik Tonnesen who succeeds the architect of Curry's turnaround, Alex Baldock who joins beauty retailer Boots in the autumn," they said. "Tonneson has risen from sales assistant more than two decades ago to head up the Nordics business in 2023, where he oversaw a tripling of profits. As a long-term insider, no changes in strategy are expected.

"With the business humming along nicely, investors' attention will turn to the mounting cash on Curry's balance sheet, raising prospects for extended share buybacks or raised dividends."

The eurozone unemployment rate for May and US initial jobless claims will be eyed.

Investors will also be watching out for the latest US non-farm payrolls report, unemployment rate and average earnings, which will be released a day early due the Independence Day holiday on Friday.

Friday looks set to be a quiet end to the week, with no FTSE 350 corporate releases scheduled and US markets closed.