London, April 8, 2026, 12:33 BST
Shares of Rolls-Royce Holdings rallied roughly 10% Wednesday, erasing losses from the day before. A ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran buoyed London stocks, while a new filing confirmed the engine maker’s ongoing share buyback activity. According to Reuters market data, Rolls-Royce was up 10.02% at 1,257.1 pence. The FTSE 100, for its part, gained 2.9% as of 1042 GMT.
Rolls-Royce, which has ranked among London’s industrial standouts since February’s target hike and bigger capital return pledge, saw its shares slide 3.9% on Tuesday. The stock, having hit a record high on those earlier announcements, ran into selling as traders pulled back from risk, rattled by mounting fears that turmoil could disrupt oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Rolls-Royce disclosed in a Wednesday filing that Morgan Stanley acquired 736,316 shares for the company on April 7, executing the trades on the London Stock Exchange as well as three additional trading venues. The company plans to cancel these shares. With this latest move, Rolls-Royce has now bought back a total of 28.94 million shares since the start of its repurchase program. Buybacks typically lower a company’s outstanding share count.
The buyback plan now looms large in the pitch to investors. Back in February, Rolls-Royce announced a planned repurchase of £7 billion to £9 billion for 2026-2028, kicking off with £2.5 billion this year, and set out a final dividend proposal at 5.0 pence a share for 2025. For 2025, the company reported £3.462 billion in underlying operating profit—its chosen yardstick that excludes certain one-offs—and projected £4.0 billion to £4.2 billion for 2026. Richard Hunter at Interactive Investor called those February numbers “sparkling”. Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce pointed to stronger demand for engine servicing and improved contract terms as key drivers for its civil aerospace unit, while its Power Systems division saw a lift from data centre clients and government and defence orders. “The group’s transformation continues with pace and intensity,” Chief Executive Tufan Erginbilgic said. Back in February, Reuters noted that the company’s mid-term margin ambitions would put it more or less on par with GE Aerospace in the widebody engine segment. Rolls-Royce
Oil prices fueled much of Wednesday’s rebound, alongside a flurry of company headlines. Brent crude slid 12.3%, dipping under the $100 mark, after Reuters reported renewed optimism about shipping lanes reopening in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical corridor for roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows. Travel, industrial, and banking shares surged, setting the pace for a relief rally throughout European markets.
Still, the rebound depends on a fragile truce. “Some of the residual risks are still out there,” UBS Global Wealth Management strategist Kiran Ganesh said. Saul Kavonic, who heads energy research at MST Marquee, called the ceasefire “not yet an off ramp for oil markets or the war.” Any renewed surge in crude would pressure airlines, jolt wider equities, and put the recent Rolls-Royce rally to the test. Reuters
Investors are juggling optimism over a beefed-up cash-return strategy with ongoing patchiness in operations. Rolls-Royce noted that while parts availability is getting better, constraints will persist into 2026. The next key event: the April 30 annual meeting, where shareholders decide on the final dividend—an indicator of whether the company’s improved cash flow can keep shoring up the shares.
