Sydney, June 24, 2026, 05:06 (AEST)
Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) slipped 1.52% to A$18.85 at Tuesday’s close, trailing the S&P/ASX 200, which dropped 0.33%. The pallet-pooling firm’s share buybacks did little to move the dial as investors paid more attention to Brambles’ U.S. repair operations. The stock lagged the index by around 1.2 percentage points.
Brambles bought 310,363 shares for A$5.94 million on Monday, it said Tuesday. That brings total purchases under the buyback to 8.49 million shares, with about A$152.4 million spent so far.
Brambles’ buyback is on-market, so the company is buying its own shares via the exchange. The program kicked off June 1. Brambles can purchase up to US$400 million of stock and the buyback can go through June 30, 2027.
Brambles cancelled 1.94 million shares it had repurchased, the company said in a separate filing Tuesday. The shares were bought back for A$37.23 million. After the move, its quoted ordinary shares dropped to about 1.337 billion.
Brambles’ outlook is shakier after the company lowered its fiscal 2026 growth targets in May, cutting sales-growth guidance to 2%-3% from 3%-4% and dropping underlying profit growth targets to 3%-5% from 8%-11%. Brambles also warned U.S. repair capacity issues would hit earnings by about US$60 million. The stock tumbled about 20% after the announcement, its steepest one-day drop in over 20 years.
Brambles said higher subcontractor turnover, labour shortages, tougher pallet standards, and stronger-than-expected demand in parts of central and northeastern U.S. have hit its pallet supply. The company is moving pallets around, increasing its repair operations, and purchasing about two million new pallets. Brambles expects these problems to ease by the end of the first half of fiscal 2027. “Our immediate priority is to meet our customers’ needs and to restore stability and service,” Chief Executive Graham Chipchase said.
RBC Capital Markets’ Owen Birrell wrote in a May 18 note that investors will likely stay cautious unless management shows clear progress on handling cost pressures. Birrell kept his “outperform” call and A$29.75 target, calling the fresh buyback broadly positive. Capital Brief
But how fast things recover is still up in the air. If repair shops stay backed up, moving inventory around and higher labor and transport spending could drive costs past estimates. Soft sales or a tough customer mix might weigh too. A lower share count makes EPS numbers look better, but that doesn’t fix a stretched service network.
Brambles’ next test comes with its full-year results on August 20. Investors want to see if the US$60 million earnings hit is under control, if new pallets are helping supply, and if longer-term margin goals are still in reach.
The ASX cash market is shut at publication. Pre-open kicks off at 07:00 Sydney. Regular trading is set to start just before 10:00.
