London, June 27, 2026, 14:03 BST
- GSK ended Friday at 1,983.00p, up 3.0% on the week, while the FTSE 100 gained 1.4%.
- Friday’s 13.84 million shares made up about 34% of the week’s GSK volume.
- The Nuvalent tender offer expires on July 14, with no financing condition.
- GSK’s next scheduled investor test is July 28, when it reports second-quarter results and gives a portfolio update.
GSK plc (LON:GSK) ended a thin news week with a 3% gain, leaving the London-listed drugmaker close to the 2,000p line and giving investors a cleaner read on its biggest question: whether the market is starting to accept an £8 billion oncology bet that looked large for a company long viewed as a vaccines and HIV name.
London trading was shut on Saturday. The London Stock Exchange lists June 27 as closed, after a normal Friday session from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST. GSK’s last London trade was Friday’s 1,983.00p close, down 0.03% on the day, after a 1,945.50p-1,995.50p range.
The stock beat the FTSE 100 over the week. GSK rose from 1,925.50p on June 19 to 1,983.00p on June 26. The FTSE 100 rose from 10,363.27 to 10,508.02 over the same period. On Friday, the index slipped 0.21%, while GSK was almost flat.
The less covered number was volume. GSK traded 13.84 million shares on Friday, more than double the Monday-to-Thursday daily average. Friday alone accounted for about one-third of the week’s GSK trading. That matters because the shares did not sell off even as the Nuvalent deal moved from announcement to execution risk.
GSK’s market value was about £79.45 billion at the latest quoted price from Hargreaves Lansdown. The Nuvalent Inc NASDAQ:NUVL acquisition has an estimated equity value of $10.6 billion, or £8.0 billion, making the deal worth roughly 10% of GSK’s market value.
GSK started the tender offer on June 24 through Harmony Row Acquisition Co., offering $124 per Nuvalent share. The offer expires one minute after 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on July 14 unless extended or terminated. The offer needs a majority of Nuvalent Class A shares and clearance or expiry of the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, but it is not subject to financing.
Chief Executive Luke Miels has pitched the acquisition as a way to add “immediate new sales growth opportunities” and a “platform in lung cancer.” GSK said the deal should add to sales and core operating profit in 2027, lift core EPS in 2029, and cause low single-digit core EPS dilution in 2026, 2027 and 2028. It kept 2026 guidance for 7%-9% growth in core operating profit and core EPS. GSK
The bet is tied to two late-stage Nuvalent lung cancer drugs, zidesamtinib and neladalkib. GSK said both are under U.S. FDA review, with target decision dates of September 18 and November 27. The company also said both could launch in 2026 if approved.
The stock reaction is notable because GSK had been punished in April even after beating first-quarter profit forecasts. James Eugene, research analyst at Verso Investment Management, told Reuters then the drop was tied to “quality concerns around the earnings beat” and one-off factors. That makes the Nuvalent milestones more than deal admin; they are a test of whether Miels can shift the debate back to pipeline growth. Reuters
Reuters reported this month that the Nuvalent purchase is GSK’s largest deal in more than a decade. Bank of America analysts cited by Reuters estimated the two lead drugs could generate $3 billion to $4 billion in combined peak annual sales, while GSK has said the acquisition is meant to help manage the 2028 patent expiry of HIV drug dolutegravir.
The next scheduled company date is July 28, when GSK says it will release second-quarter results and update investors on portfolio growth opportunities at a London event. Before that, the stock’s near-term week-ahead issue is simpler: whether Friday’s high-volume close near 2,000p holds when London trading resumes Monday.
