London, March 12, 2026, 17:22 GMT
Smiths Group Plc shares lost more ground Thursday, building on Wednesday’s steep drop after BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to “neutral” and flagged risks for the John Crane unit tied to weaker oil-and-gas demand. As of 17:14 GMT, the stock was trading at 2,474 pence, down 0.32%. Wednesday saw a 4.54% plunge. 1
This one’s notable: Smiths is about to report interim results March 20, right in the thick of a major overhaul centered on John Crane and Flex-Tek. With Smiths Detection and Smiths Interconnect both up for sale, what happens next for the core units is suddenly front and center for investors. 2
Smiths is eyeing roughly 1.85 billion pounds in net cash from selling Smiths Detection to CVC, saying a hefty chunk will go back to shareholders. It’s the same story with the 1.3 billion pound Interconnect deal to Molex, sharpening attention on how much profit the remaining operations can actually deliver. 3
BNP Paribas slashed its price target on the stock to 2,700 pence from the previous 2,900 pence, trimming earnings-per-share forecasts by 2% to 3% for the years 2026 through 2028. The firm flagged that consensus numbers are still banking on 4.9% organic growth at John Crane this year — despite the unit logging a small sales drop in the first quarter, and that’s growth excluding acquisitions and currency moves. 4
Part of the note referenced Rotork, the UK-based flow-control name often used as a John Crane proxy. Rotork reported this week that while its oil-and-gas revenue held steady for 2025, the midstream side lost ground in H2—customers pushed projects back. 5
Smiths disclosed Thursday evening that it snapped up 138,700 shares for cancellation, paying an average price of 2,486.4 pence each. The move fits into the buyback plan unveiled back in November. Still, the latest round of purchases barely moved the needle for the shares. 6
Smiths is pushing Flex-Tek into higher-growth territory. The company struck a deal on March 3 to acquire U.S.-based DRC Heat Transfer for 164 million pounds—a move Chief Executive Roland Carter described as “further progress on our strategy.” The acquisition deepens Smiths’ exposure to data-centre cooling and backup power. 7
The FTSE 100 slipped 0.4% Thursday, pressured by a fresh jump in oil and firmer inflation fears. Smiths shares held onto a roughly 5% gain for the year, according to market data, but Thursday’s close put the stock around 10% off its 52-week high of 2,746 pence. 8
But there’s no clear path in the short run. Smiths is set to report results on March 20, buybacks are ongoing, and hefty disposal proceeds remain in play. Should John Crane orders come in stronger than BNP projects, the stock might bounce. Otherwise, expect further estimate downgrades—that’s the main threat. 2
