London, June 26, 2026, 14:04 BST
- GSK traded near 1,951.50p to 1,952.00p on the LSE, off 1.61% in regular action on June 26.
- GSK’s last £180 million piece of its £2 billion buyback is set to wrap up June 26.
- GSK kicked off its tender offer for Nuvalent NASDAQ:NUVL on June 24, offering $124 a share. The offer is set to run through July 14.
GSK plc (LON:GSK) traded lower in London on Friday. The day marked the final scheduled round of its £2 billion share buyback, but the $10.6 billion Nuvalent tender offer has become a bigger weight than the daily support from the buyback. The London Stock Exchange was open at the dateline time; its June 26 session runs from 0800 to 1630 BST.
GSK traded at 1,951.50p on the sell side and 1,952.00p to buy, down 32p, or 1.61%, according to AJ Bell. The stock’s market cap was about £78.21 billion. A £180 million final buyback at these levels would be close to 9.2 million shares, or about 0.2% of the company’s equity. Meanwhile, the Nuvalent bid, valued by GSK at £8.0 billion, is more than 40 times as big.
The stock climbed 1.72% to £19.84 on Thursday, outpacing the FTSE 100’s (INDEXFTSE:UKX) 0.65% gain, but with lighter-than-usual volume at 6.8 million shares versus a 50-day average of 7.5 million. Friday’s drop leaves the market questioning if the end of buyback demand is taking away a small but regular support from the price.
GSK reported in May it wrapped up the first four tranches of its buyback, picking up 114.4 million ordinary shares for close to £1.82 billion. The fifth and final leg, capped at around £180 million, was scheduled from May 11 through June 26, handled by Citigroup. Shares bought will be held in treasury.
GSK picked up 1.09 million shares between June 15 and June 19, paying an average of about 1,950.59p a share, according to the latest notice. Since it started the last tranche on May 11, GSK has bought 8.45 million shares. As of the latest update, the company held 269.8 million shares in treasury and reported 4.05 billion ordinary shares on issue, not counting treasury stock.
GSK’s earnings per share got a boost from buybacks. In its first-quarter slides, the company said core EPS was up 9% at constant currencies—that figure includes buyback support. GSK kept its 2026 targets the same: sales growth at 3% to 5%, core operating profit growth at 7% to 9%, core EPS growth of 7% to 9%, and plans for a 70p dividend.
Deal execution is the next thing to watch. On June 24, GSK said its indirect wholly owned arm, Harmony Row Acquisition Co., launched a tender offer for all Nuvalent shares at $124 in cash. The offer runs through one minute past 11:59 p.m. Eastern on July 14 unless GSK extends or kills it.
GSK said June 9 it is buying Nuvalent for about $10.6 billion, or £8.0 billion. The deal brings in lung cancer drugs zidesamtinib and neladalkib, both now under FDA review in the U.S., with target dates set for Sept. 18 and Nov. 27. GSK expects the deal to lift sales and core operating profit in 2027, with core EPS benefit in 2029, but said it will dilute core EPS by a low single digit percentage from 2026 through 2028.
Chief Executive Luke Miels called the deal unusual, saying it was “essentially three products in one.” Bank of America analysts, in a note picked up by Reuters, called it a “bold move” in oncology, and said it gives two near-term growth drivers. Reuters
Some investors used blunt language. James Eugene, analyst at GSK shareholder Verso Investment Management, said Nuvalent is “a very large brick” in the rebuild. Ketan Patel, fund manager at Whitefriars, said: “GSK is playing catchup.” Barclays analysts said the deal was logical but warned neither main asset looked like a “mega blockbuster.” Reuters
GSK’s revenue mix is in focus as investors look at the deal. The company posted £7.6 billion in first-quarter revenue, a 5% lift at constant exchange. Oncology brought in £0.5 billion, up 28%. HIV sales hit £1.8 billion and vaccines came in at £2.1 billion. Nuvalent would bring late-stage lung cancer products into oncology, which is still much smaller than the HIV or vaccines divisions.
GSK reports earnings July 28, but before that investors face the tender deadline. Two FDA decisions are set for September and November.
