Sydney, June 11, 2026, 05:03 AEST
- Coles Group finished Wednesday at A$23.73, gaining A$1.12 or 5.0%. Shares ended on the session high.
- Most of the move came from rotation into consumer staples, rather than news of a new Coles profit announcement.
- Investors are balancing solid supermarket sales and more online orders with weaker liquor, higher costs from suppliers, and an ongoing pricing-law risk.
Coles Group Ltd. rallied on Wednesday, with shares up 5.0% to A$23.73 by the close. Coles opened at A$22.72, slipped to A$22.69 at session lows, but buyers kept pushing until the end. Volume was just above 5.0 million shares. Investors rotated into supermarket names like Coles as global risk appetite looked shaky. The stock ended at the top tick.
ASX 200 rebounds, closes 0.6% higher; consumer stocks lead The ASX 200 ended up 0.6% at 8,653 points, but the benchmark stayed 1.5% lower over five days, ABC’s market wrap showed. Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at Global X ETFs, told ABC local consumer stocks were the “standout performers” as Coles and Woolworths rose. Investors, he said, were looking for “relative safety of businesses with resilient demand.” ABC News
Coles was in focus for investors Wednesday. Consumer staples stocks like supermarkets and grocery chains tend to see more buying when markets get jittery, since people keep buying basics. ABC’s sector snapshot put consumer non-cyclicals at the top, up 3.6%. Materials, energy and tech stocks dropped.
No fresh earnings numbers pushed the stock higher. The Coles investor page lists the 3Q26 sales update as the last operating release. The next key sign comes with Q4, which will show if momentum holds up.
Coles handed bulls some fresh numbers. Group sales revenue hit A$10.70 billion in the 12 weeks to March 29, up 3.1%. Supermarkets sales came in at A$9.78 billion, up 4.0%. Comparable sales added 3.6% for the period.
Online sales picked up sharply in the latest update. Coles reported supermarket eCommerce sales jumped 24.8% to A$1.33 billion, pushing online’s share of supermarket sales to 13.6%. That’s a key number for investors who want to see if digital grocery is turning into a steady growth story or if it’s just leftover from the pandemic period.
Coles said supermarket inflation, stripping out tobacco, dropped to 0.8% from 1.7% in the second quarter. Fresh produce deflation, more relief on packaged groceries, stepped-up promotions and heavier price cuts in areas like cleaning and baby products drove the fall. CEO Leah Weckert said “value and availability” are still key for shoppers, highlighting own-brand, eCommerce and its supply-chain to meet demand.
The stock’s rally came as Woolworths climbed too, both moving up with the defensive grocery names. Market commentary pointed to a sharp rise in the wider S&P/ASX consumer staples group. That suggests Wednesday’s jump was more about the sector than a big shift on Coles itself.
Coles’ defensive profile isn’t keeping margin pressure away. In its third-quarter update, liquor sales dropped 3.9% to A$781 million. Comparable liquor sales were off 4.3%. The company flagged more supplier cost-price increase requests and internal cost rises in fuel, freight and packaging. If Coles absorbs these, profits take a hit; passing them on too fast could dent demand.
There’s also a legal shadow. The ACCC said in May that the Federal Court ruled Coles misled customers with “Down Down” discount claims. The case covered 245 common products; the court found misleading claims on 13 of 14 sample tickets in the hearing. Penalties and other orders are still to come, the regulator said. ACCC
Coles’s legal fight is back on the table after the case hit Federal Court on Wednesday for follow-up steps like sorting out agreed facts and pushing the penalties phase to later. The court action didn’t stop the stock from climbing this week, but if penalties come in big, costs and brand risk could bite.
Australia’s Food and Grocery Code will ban excessive grocery pricing starting July 1, 2026. Coles and Woolworths could be fined the greater of A$10 million, three times any benefit, or 10% of annual turnover from the last 12 months. For Coles holders, the focus is now split: is defensive buying enough to support the stock, and will new rules on grocery prices cut into supermarket profits as their costs go up.
