London, June 30, 2026, 11:02 BST
- GSK was up about 0.9% in London, trading near 1,996p. The FTSE 100 also moved higher.
- The drugmaker wrapped up a £2 billion buyback on Monday, having picked up 123.9 million shares.
- Nuvalent is the next capital allocation test for GSK. The $10.6 billion all-cash offer is about 10% of GSK’s market value.
GSK plc (LON:GSK) edged higher by late morning Tuesday in London. But what mattered more for traders was the price it paid snapping up its own shares, just ahead of the bigger Nuvalent, Inc. NASDAQ:NUVL agreement grabbing focus.
GSK traded at a 1,996.00p sell and 1,996.50p buy on AJ Bell, up 17.00p, or 0.86%. Market value was £79.95 billion. The FTSE 100 added 73.04 points, or 0.70%, to 10,557.26 at 10:34 BST, Investors Chronicle reported, with data at least 15 minutes late.
| Market check | Latest reported level | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| GSK plc (LON:GSK) | 1,996.00p/1,996.50p, +0.86% | Back around 2,000p with the buyback now done |
| FTSE 100 | 10,557.26, +0.70% | GSK rose faster than the overall index |
| GSK market value | £79.95 bln | Main figure to work out deal sizes |
| GSK 52-week high | 2,282.00p | Shares still down about 12.5% from that peak |
| GSK 52-week low | 1,288.60p | Sits about 55% above the low |
GSK said Monday it wrapped up its £2 billion buyback, having picked up 123,939,156 ordinary shares since Feb. 24, 2025. Based on the programme’s ceiling, GSK paid a maximum average of about 1,614p per share. As of Tuesday’s mid-price at 1,996.25p, those shares are now worth roughly £2.47 billion.
GSK wrapped up its buyback with a smaller round last week, picking up 1,054,653 shares between June 22 and June 26. The company paid an average of about 1,953p per share, according to daily purchase numbers in the RNS. GSK now holds 270.9 million shares in treasury, making up 6.70% of voting rights.
| Capital allocation item | Size | Ratio to current GSK market value |
|---|---|---|
| Buyback finished | Up to £2.0 bln | About 2.5% |
| Nuvalent equity total | £8.0 bln | About 10.0% |
| Net outlay in Nuvalent | £7.1 bln | About 8.9% |
| Nuvalent net spend vs buyback | £7.1 bln vs £2.0 bln | About 3.6 times |
Investors now face a new setup. The buyback period is over. Nuvalent has its tender offer open. GSK said June 24 its acquisition arm launched a $124 per share cash tender offer for all Nuvalent stock, and holders can withdraw until just after 11:59 p.m. Eastern on July 14 unless GSK extends or ends it sooner. There’s no financing condition tied to the offer.
GSK is picking up two late-stage non-small cell lung cancer treatments, zidesamtinib and neladalkib, both under FDA review. GSK expects a decision on zidesamtinib by Sept. 18, 2026, and for neladalkib by Nov. 27, 2026. CEO Luke Miels called them “potential best-in-class assets that could launch this year” and said the deal brings “immediate new sales growth opportunities” for GSK. GSK
GSK stuck with its 2026 guidance for core operating profit and core EPS to grow 7% to 9%. The company also said the Nuvalent deal should cut core EPS by a low single-digit percentage in 2026 through 2028. GSK said it expects the deal will add to core operating profit in 2027 and to core EPS in 2029. It kept its 2026 dividend forecast at 70p per share.
Miels told reporters June 9 the deal was “essentially three products in one,” according to Reuters. James Eugene, analyst at Verso Investment Management, said the size might have caught investors off guard, since many thought GSK would only go after deals worth $2 billion to $4 billion. Reuters
Investors aren’t rejecting the shift, going by the price action, but GSK still has to prove its pipeline story. Shares dropped over 8% in April after first-quarter earnings, despite a core EPS beat. Eugene said at the time the beat was “more modest than the numbers suggest,” pointing to one-offs and weaker general medicines trends. Reuters
The price GSK is paying for Nuvalent matters in the long run because of its oncology gap. Reuters said GSK’s oncology sales climbed 43% last year to just under £2 billion, making up about 6% of its total. AstraZeneca plc (LON:AZN) relies on oncology for 44% of sales. GSK is making a bigger acquisition than usual right after the recent buyback bid exited the market.
