London, April 27, 2026, 14:03 BST
- Imperial Brands shares slipped on Monday, despite the ongoing share buyback program.
- Morgan Stanley on Friday downgraded Imperial to “equal-weight” and bumped British American Tobacco up to “overweight.”
- May 12 looms as the key date for the Winston and Davidoff maker, with first-half results due then.
Imperial Brands PLC shares edged lower Monday, down 0.23% at 2,765.50 pence, after a late-Friday filing revealed yet another buyback as part of the tobacco giant’s ongoing £1.45 billion share repurchase plan. About 2.76 million shares traded hands. The move comes as a broker downgrade shifted market sentiment back toward British American Tobacco.
The clock’s ticking for Imperial. The company wants to reassure investors with cash returns ahead of first-half results, expected May 12. Its April trading update left the market wondering about share, FX moves, and just how fast “next generation” offerings—think vapes, heated tobacco, nicotine pouches—are really moving. Imperial Brands Corporate Site
Imperial reported picking up 179,206 ordinary shares for cancellation on April 24, paying an average 2,768.2686 pence apiece via Barclays—part of the buyback plan unveiled last October. Once these settle and are cancelled, the company said its outstanding ordinary shares will stand at 778,437,959, not counting treasury stock.
It’s a decent-sized buyback, but that alone doesn’t cut it anymore. Morgan Stanley downgraded Imperial to “equal-weight” and upgraded British American Tobacco to “overweight,” Alliance News flagged Friday—one signal of money shuffling between sector names. London South East
Imperial left its full-year outlook unchanged in the April 14 trading update. The company still expects low single-digit tobacco revenue growth, double-digit gains in next generation product sales, adjusted operating profit up three to five percent, and free cash flow of no less than £2.2 billion this year. Constant currency excludes currency swings. The adjusted profit metric—non-GAAP—filters out certain items for easier period comparisons.
Still, investors zeroed in on the softer spots. Imperial flagged a slight drop in overall market share for its five biggest markets during the first half, despite seeing growth in tobacco adjusted operating profit. Shares slid over 8% on April 14 after Reuters broke the news, making a robust second half more important for the company.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, told it straight: “Imperial Brands still has pricing power.” Still, he pointed out that talk around market share and the sluggish early showing for next generation products left investors uneasy. Before the recent drop, shares hit their highest mark since 2017—so for some, profit-taking was a natural next step. Ajbell
Morningstar’s Kristoffer Inton struck a more upbeat note, saying he was “not that concerned” about the anticipated share loss, calling it a sign the company is prioritizing profits. He also described the long-term outlook for next generation products as “undented.” The firm stuck with its fair value estimate of £33, or 3,300 pence. Morningstar
The second-half rebound, Imperial warned, may not materialize as hoped. The company pointed to ongoing uncertainty tied to the Middle East conflict and said currency swings would drag on first-half earnings per share by 2.0% to 2.5%. Losses from next generation products are set to climb modestly. On top of that, Imperial paid R.J. Reynolds $200 million in the first half following a Delaware Supreme Court ruling, with another $234 million due in installments across the next three years.
So May 12 suddenly matters more than it typically would. Should Imperial deliver on pricing, cash flow, and that second-half momentum, the buyback starts to look like real support. But if U.S. market-share erosion gets worse or nicotine pouches keep their promotional edge, this newest repurchase risks looking like a buffer, not a spark.
