London, June 27, 2026, 16:01 BST
- Diageo closed Friday at 1,576.50p, rising 0.93% on the day. Shares gained 3.04% for the week.
- The stock outpaced the FTSE 100’s 0.67% gain this week, but it’s still off 1.68% for 2026.
- TD Securities upgraded to “buy” but is still expecting fiscal 2026 organic sales to fall 2.0%.
- Next up is Diageo’s preliminary results and strategy update on Aug. 6.
Diageo plc (LON:DGE) finished the week higher after a broker upgrade, moving the focus back to valuation questions rather than sales. The London Stock Exchange is closed on Saturday. It trades Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. London time.
Johnnie Walker and Guinness parent closed out Friday at 1,576.50 pence, up 0.93% for the day and 3.04% across five days. That put it ahead of the FTSE 100, which slipped 0.21% Friday and gained 0.67% over the week.
Gap remains for Diageo in 2026 as FTSE 100 rises Diageo is still off 1.68% for the year, even after Friday’s gain. The FTSE 100 has climbed 5.81% in 2026. Friday helped close part of that gap, but it’s still open.
TD Securities moved Diageo to “buy” from “hold” on Friday, bumping its London price target to 1,750p from 1,650p. The broker also raised the target for the U.S. depositary receipt to $93 from $88. That new London target is 11% higher than where Diageo finished trading on Friday. Investing.com UK
TD’s upgrade didn’t signal a clear shift in demand. The broker held its forecast for fiscal 2026 organic sales growth at negative 2.0%. That matches consensus and is at the top of Diageo’s guides for a 2% to 3% drop. TD projects revenue at $19.74 billion for fiscal 2026 and $19.53 billion for fiscal 2027, both below Diageo’s reported net sales of $20.25 billion for fiscal 2025.
Bulls on Friday were betting on cost cuts, a lower valuation, and Dave Lewis’s track record, not a bounce-back in U.S. spirits. The week’s key number for investors: TD said Diageo’s NABCA share is down to 17.7% from 18.8% in the past six months through April, marking ten months in a row of year-on-year share declines.
Diageo’s fiscal third quarter showed reported net sales up 2.3% to $4.5 billion. Organic net sales edged up just 0.3%. Volume ticked up 0.4%. Price/mix slipped 0.1%. North America organic net sales dropped by a high-single-digit percentage, which offset gains in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.
Diageo CEO Sir Dave Lewis said in May, “North America remains our biggest challenge” and the company “needs to be more competitive.” Diageo left its fiscal 2026 guidance where it was: organic net sales expected to be down 2% to 3%, organic operating profit seen flat to up low single digits, with around $300 million in Accelerate savings. Diageo
Berenberg sounded more careful on the outlook and timing. In a note out Friday, the bank said Diageo’s path back to top-line growth is still strained. Berenberg cut its price target for the shares but held its buy call. Finimize picked up that Berenberg sees at least another 18 months of revenue pressure before Diageo gives its August 6 update.
The other balance-sheet move is in Kenya. Diageo’s East African Breweries Ltd (NASE:EABL) is pushing to accelerate court cases that could block the $2.3 billion sale of a 65% stake in EABL to Asahi Group Holdings (TYO:2502), Reuters said on Wednesday. Kenya’s chief justice was asked to fast-track the process. Last week a minority shareholder won a court order that halted the deal, marking the fourth legal challenge so far.
EABL sale is part of the same cash and debt dynamic at the center of the broker debate. Diageo said in May the EABL deal, along with selling United Spirits’ Royal Challengers Bengaluru unit, will mean lower leverage and more room to maneuver financially. Reuters reported Asahi’s offer, first flagged in December, puts a $4.8 billion value on EABL, with closing expected in the second half of 2026.
There’s no Diageo results event set for the week ahead. The group’s financial calendar instead points to Aug. 6 for prelim results for the year ending June 30, 2026, along with a strategy update. Next trading update and annual meeting are set for Nov. 5.
