London, June 22, 2026, 16:00 BST
- Halma shares slipped 0.15% to 3,954p on the day while the FTSE 100 rose 0.59%. Halma is still roughly 19% lower than its peak from June 3.
- Halma is looking for low-double-digit revenue growth when stripped of currency, deals and sales, with photonics seen adding roughly five percentage points. That’s down from eight points a year ago.
- A single hyperscale tech customer accounts for 20% of group revenue. Based on rounded figures, that same customer made up about 54% of Halma’s revenue growth last year.
Halma plc (LSE:HLMA) traded flat on Monday. The shares are struggling to come back from the 15.4% drop after the June 11 outlook. At 3,954p, the latest price is up just 0.7% from the 3,928p close right after results, while the wider London market moved higher.
Halma’s last year numbers looked fine. Revenue was up 15% to £2.582 billion. Adjusted EBIT gained 22% to £594.5 million. What got investors’ attention was the new outlook. The company now sees low-double-digit organic, constant-currency growth through March 2027, with photonics expected to add about five points. That’s down from the eight points photonics delivered in last year’s 16% organic growth.
Guidance is tied closely to photonics, more than the headline lets on. Halma’s “photonics premium” measures any growth above its 7% long-term organic growth rate. If the group hits 10% growth, photonics’ five-point premium makes up half the lift; at 12%, that share drops to about 42%. Last year, an eight-point premium out of 16% organic growth again made up half. Halma
Customer concentration stands out. Halma said a single hyperscaler made up 20% of group revenue, up from 15%. Using those rounded shares on reported revenue, implied sales to that customer would be about £516 million for 2026 and £337 million for 2025. That’s a jump of nearly £179 million. That accounts for about 54% of Halma’s total £334 million revenue rise. The numbers are rough since the customer shares are rounded.
Chief Executive Marc Ronchetti said “growth was broad-based across all three sectors.” But revenue growth wasn’t spread out evenly. Environmental and Analysis, the segment with photonics, jumped about 34%. Safety and Healthcare each added around 5%. The market isn’t focused on how many sectors expanded, but on how much of the extra growth is tied to one programme. Halma
But the downside is clear. CFO Carole Cran told investors “trends in this market are clearly dynamic,” pointing to how tech decisions and data-centre supply issues could shift growth. If a customer making up a fifth of revenue changed plans, pushed back orders, or saw demand cool, Halma’s growth could take a hit before its other units make up the difference. Investing
Halma’s valuation is still tight for mistakes. Hargreaves Lansdown’s trailing numbers put Halma at 34.7 times earnings, higher than Smiths Group at about 32 times and Spirax Group at 23.8 times. The comparison isn’t exact since the fiscal periods and business mixes vary, but Halma still commands a clear premium. Interactive Investor analyst Keith Bowman called the shares “not obviously cheap.” Hargreaves Lansdown
Citi took a different tack on Halma, moving the stock to buy after the drop and setting a new price target of £46, up from £37. The bank now sees Halma’s enterprise-value-to-sales multiple at 5.2 times, down from 6.4 times. Citi called for 11% organic growth in 2027, ahead of the Visible Alpha consensus of 10.4%. That target price points to around 16% upside versus Monday’s close, pre-dividend. Citi’s view hinges on the photonics order book converting, not just staying at current levels.
Halma said orders are ahead of both sales and last year’s pace, and the company expects its adjusted margin to stay close to the 2026 mark, stripping out a one-off gain. A provisional trading update is set for September 24. For now, shares probably keep moving as a stand-in for one hyperscaler’s optical-switch spending, not just as a play on safety and healthcare. The stock could see a stronger rerating if more growth shows up from the rest of the portfolio.
