LONDON, March 17, 2026, 19:20 GMT
Haleon shares pushed higher on Tuesday, with the London-listed stock ending about 2.4% up and the U.S.-listed shares rising about 1.5% to $10.62 by 19:04 UTC, after Berenberg lifted its target price and the company disclosed its first purchases under a new £500 million buyback. 1
That matters because Haleon has been trying to claw back ground since Feb. 25, when it guided to 2026 organic revenue growth of 3% to 5%, below its medium-term range and under analysts’ 4.4% consensus. Organic revenue strips out currency swings and recent deal effects. 2
Berenberg kept its buy rating on Monday and nudged its target price to 512 pence from 510 pence, saying 2026 should mark a turning point in Haleon’s shift to a more consumer-focused model. Sector peer Reckitt Benckiser also traded higher in the same session. 3
A filing on Monday showed Haleon bought 2,749,486 shares for cancellation from trades executed on March 12 and March 13, only days after it launched the programme. The buyback began on March 12 and will run no later than Aug. 19, with HSBC executing orders across the London Stock Exchange, CBOE venues and Aquis, and all repurchased shares slated for cancellation. 4
The pressure point is still the United States. Haleon said in February that fourth-quarter organic revenue rose 2.1%, hurt by a mild cold-and-flu season, while weak U.S. consumer spending and tougher competition pushed some shoppers toward cheaper products. CEO Brian McNamara said then, “We feel confident the U.S. will grow this year,” and said Haleon could be back in its 4% to 6% medium-term growth band by 2027 as leadership changes and distribution resets take hold. 2
China has been the brighter patch. Last week Haleon said it would invest 65 million pounds in a new Shanghai oral-health plant and expand Parodontax into more than 30 Chinese cities by the end of 2027; McNamara called it “an incredible market.” 5
Jayant Singh, Haleon’s global head of oral health, said the Parodontax relaunch had been adjusted for local tastes, with a sweeter flavour, more foam and glossier packaging. Those “minor nuances,” he said, matter in a market where Haleon estimates Sensodyne reaches about 11% of households, well behind local rival Yunnan Baiyao at 29.8%. 5
But the squeeze on households has not gone away. North America sales fell 1% in the fourth quarter, and promotions by rivals hurt multivitamin sales; Chris Beckett, an analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said “many U.S. households feel financially stretched,” with the weakness now reaching over-the-counter, or non-prescription, medicines. 2
For now, the buyback and a firmer broker tone are giving the shares some room. A more durable rerating depends on whether Haleon can turn its China push and capital returns into enough growth to offset softer U.S. demand and hit the 2026 profit goals it outlined last month. 5
