London, June 13, 2026, 21:03 BST
- Diageo finished Friday at 1,514.50p, climbing 0.53%. The stock lagged the FTSE 100’s 1.63% rise.
- Reuters has a new report on India’s Telangana state, giving global drinks firms like Diageo another headache.
- Next up for Diageo is its August 6 strategy update and fiscal 2026 full-year results.
Diageo plc shares finished Friday up but still trailed the FTSE 100. The Guinness, Johnnie Walker, and Don Julio owner closed at 1,514.50p, rising 8p, or 0.53%, on volume of 3.47 million shares. AJ Bell data showed the wider index climbing 1.63% that day. Diageo’s lag comes as the group works to regain investor trust after a tough 12 months. The shares are still down 23.14% over the past year.
UK blue chips ended up Friday, with the FTSE 100 closing 1.6% higher at 10,471.7—the highest since May 27, Reuters reported. Oil prices fell as traders bet on a possible U.S.-Iran peace agreement. Diageo lagged, with a smaller gain that pointed to investors still holding back on backing the drinks group to the same degree as the wider market.
India is the latest headache for global alcohol players chasing growth in the country. Reuters said Friday that industry groups tied to companies like Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Heineken and Carlsberg accused Telangana state of breaking accounting rules and holding back 37.25 billion rupees, or about $392 million, in dues for the period from December 2025 to April 2026. Reuters didn’t detail Diageo’s share of that sum, and reported that Diageo and the other companies didn’t comment. The situation puts a spotlight on payment delays, tax complications and local regulatory issues facing alcohol majors in India.
Diageo still has plenty to fix. In its fiscal third quarter, the company said organic net sales crept up 0.3%, but for the first nine months, they dropped 1.9%. North America kept lagging, with organic net sales down in the high single digits. CEO Sir Dave Lewis called the region the company’s “biggest challenge.” Diageo has not changed its forecast for fiscal 2026, saying organic net sales will fall 2% to 3%. Diageo
Industry numbers aren’t helping. Reuters on Thursday said IWSR sees global alcohol volumes dropping until after 2031, with levels in 2035 still 1% below 2025 despite a forecasted 9% rise in legal-age drinkers. That signals for Diageo that weakness in big markets like the U.S., China and UK could be both structural and cyclical.
Bulls argue the shares have taken much of the hit already. The median 12-month target from analysts tracked by Investors Chronicle was 1,943.69p on June 11. That’s a possible 28.34% move up from 1,514.50p. Of those analysts, 7 rate the stock Buy, 8 Outperform, 6 Hold and 2 Sell. Diageo says its Accelerate savings programme is set to produce around $300 million of savings by the end of fiscal 2026. Asset sales like United Spirits’ Royal Challengers Bengaluru and a planned EABL disposal are meant to help bring down debt.
Diageo’s next big milestone comes when it releases its fiscal 2026 results and strategy update on August 6, 2026. Investors want to see if Lewis has made headway in North America, kept Guinness growth on track, improved competitiveness without hurting margins too much, and delivered on free cash flow for debt reduction.
Diageo trades like a risky turnaround bet, not a clear value play, at today’s price. The P/E is 18.78 and the dividend yield sits at 4.15%, according to AJ Bell, so the stock isn’t expensive. Still, investors want to see results after the dividend cut, weak demand for U.S. spirits, concerns over payments from India and more cautious alcohol forecasts. Some shareholders may back Lewis to pull off his August reset, but the shares depend more on execution now than brand power.
