London, March 16, 2026, 15:36 GMT
- Rolls-Royce shares traded around 1,230p in delayed London trading on Monday, up about 1.2% after a 5.3% drop on Friday. 1
- The company said it bought back 1.82 million shares on March 13 and has repurchased 12.52 million since the current £2.3 billion programme began. 2
- Even after the bounce, the stock remains well below its 1,420p year high, with investors balancing buybacks and upgraded guidance against supply-chain and oil-price risks. 1
Rolls-Royce Holdings shares traded about 1.2% higher in London on Monday near 1,230 pence, clawing back only part of Friday’s 5.3% slide, after the company published another buyback filing before the open. 1
The move matters because Rolls-Royce has become a test of whether heavy cash returns can keep supporting a stock once the macro backdrop turns. The engine maker unveiled a £7 billion-£9 billion buyback on Feb. 26, with £2.5 billion due in 2026, yet the shares are still well below their 1,420p year high. 3
That backdrop has soured fast. London’s FTSE 100 was little changed on Monday, with energy stocks up and travel names down nearly 2% as the Middle East conflict kept oil and interest-rate worries alive. Rolls-Royce sits on both sides of that trade through civil aerospace, defence and power systems. 4
Before trading, Rolls-Royce said it had repurchased 1,822,125 shares on March 13 under the £2.3 billion programme announced with its full-year results. A buyback is when a company repurchases and usually cancels its own stock, shrinking the share count. Rolls-Royce said it intends to cancel the shares and has now bought back 12,524,748 shares under the programme at an average 1,285.99 pence. 2
At its Feb. 26 results, the company reported core operating profit of £3.5 billion and free cash flow of £3.3 billion, or cash left after capital spending. Rolls-Royce said it expects 2026 operating profit of £4.0 billion to £4.2 billion and laid out a multi-year buyback running through 2028. 3
Chief Executive Tufan Erginbilgic said then that “Our transformation continues with pace and intensity.” Richard Hunter, analyst at Interactive Investor, called the results “sparkling” and said the group still had “unfulfilled ambitions to maintain the momentum.” 3
The upgraded targets would move Rolls-Royce closer to GE Aerospace, its main rival in the widebody engine market, Reuters reported. Rolls-Royce said airline engine flying, data-centre power demand and stronger defence activity were among the drivers of its 2025 performance. 5
But the near-term picture is not clean. Rolls-Royce said its 2026 cash-flow guidance already assumes a £150 million-£200 million hit from supply-chain disruption, with parts availability still constrained, and Friday’s selloff showed how quickly company-specific positives can be swamped when oil and inflation fears flare. 3
Pascal Koeppel, chief investment officer at Vontobel SFA Investment Management, said on Friday the market shock looked “short term in nature,” but that for now “the fear is larger.” For Rolls-Royce, that leaves the stock caught between a powerful turnaround story and a rougher market mood than it faced just a few weeks ago. 6
