LONDON, June 29, 2026, 10:01 BST
- Unilever opened late in London, with the stock falling 1.13%. The FTSE 100 fell 0.15%.
- Turnover-weighted Q1 data shows Home Care delivered about half the group’s volume growth, though it made up less than 25% of sales.
- The €1.5 billion buyback is done, but shares are still down roughly 18% from their 12-month high.
- The next scheduled update is Q2 and half-year numbers, due July 28.
Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR) underperformed the FTSE 100 early Monday, with shares falling again. The move pushed investors to look harder at sales quality after the firm finished its buyback program and ahead of its July results.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s delayed quote had Unilever trading at 4,547.50 pence to sell and 4,548.00 pence to buy, down 52 pence, or 1.13%. The site listed the FTSE 100 off 0.15%. Opening price was 4,581.00 pence with a previous close of 4,600.50 pence. Market value showed about 97.95 billion pounds and volume at 221,199 shares. The London Stock Exchange was open at the time, with regular trading from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST.
| Monday delayed market data | Unilever PLC | FTSE 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Move | -1.13% | -0.15% |
| Previous close | 4,600.50p | — |
| Open | 4,581.00p | — |
| Market value | £97.95 bln | — |
| Dividend yield | 3.79% | — |
Shares traded around 18% below the 12-month high of 5,542.11 pence and about 25% above the one-year low of 3,644.00 pence, using delayed Hargreaves Lansdown pricing. That keeps Unilever caught: the stock isn’t at a recovery discount, but the cash return hasn’t really shaken off debate about the company’s growth mix.
Unilever wrapped up its 2026 share buyback on June 5, picking up 30,703,780 ordinary shares for €1,499,999,891. The buyback began April 30, part of the group’s capital return plan linked to portfolio adjustments and Unilever’s 2025 results.
Unilever’s Q1 breakdown gives a better view for investors. The company posted 3.8% underlying sales growth, with 2.9% from volume and 0.9% from price. Home Care led the quarter, up 6.1% on underlying sales and 6.2% on volume, with turnover at €3.0 billion. Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care posted 3.6% and 3.7% underlying sales growth.
| Q1 2026 segment | Turnover | USG | Volume | Price | Approx. volume contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauty & Wellbeing | €3.1 bln | 3.6% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 0.47 pct point |
| Personal Care | €3.3 bln | 3.7% | 1.1% | 2.5% | 0.29 pct point |
| Home Care | €3.0 bln | 6.1% | 6.2% | -0.1% | 1.48 pct point |
| Foods | €3.2 bln | 2.2% | 2.4% | -0.2% | 0.61 pct point |
Estimate of turnover-weighted impact on group volume growth, based on Q1 reported turnover and volume numbers.
So Home Care made up about 24% of Q1 turnover but delivered around 52% of the group’s volume, based on a basic calculation. The risk for the stock is that most of the volume is coming from Home Care, which didn’t have higher pricing this quarter. Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care saw lower volume, but managed to push through higher prices.
Unilever wants to move the debate. The company said on June 17 that it will launch more than 40 AI-powered digital twins across its factories in the next 18 months with Accenture. At its Raeford plant in the U.S., Unilever said its existing digital twins cut waste by 20% and boosted capacity by 10%. “Innovation into measurable impact,” is how Adam Raeburn-James, Unilever’s global VP for digital business operations, described the partnership. Unilever
The factory numbers are key. Unilever told investors it aims to lift margins as it reworks its portfolio. In Q1, Unilever kept its 2026 guidance for underlying sales growth at the low end of 4% to 6%. It also said underlying operating margin should rise a bit.
Unilever plans to combine its Foods unit with McCormick & Company Inc. NYSE:MKC, with Unilever announcing March 31 that the deal will give it and its shareholders 65% of the merged company and $15.7 billion in cash. Unilever said it will use the cash to fund €6 billion in share buybacks from 2026 to 2029. After the deal, Unilever would be left as a €39 billion beauty, wellbeing, personal care and home care business, using its projected 2025 revenue.
McCormick last week reported second-quarter net sales up 16.7%, with organic sales gaining 1.7%. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.80. Management also said it’s moving ahead with integration planning for the Unilever Foods deal. Reuters noted these were McCormick’s first results since the merger was announced.
Unilever is set to report Q2 and half-year numbers on July 28. The company plans to put out a pre-close aide-memoire ahead of the release, and will gather sell-side consensus from analysts at Barclays, Bernstein, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, RBC, UBS, and more.
