London, July 4, 2026, 21:02 BST
- Smith & Nephew plc (LON:SN) finished the day at 1,127p, edging up 0.04%. The FTSE 100 gained 0.25%.
- The company picked up 1.59 million shares between June 26 and July 2, more than ten times the size of a 150,000-share block linked to staff plans.
- Smith & Nephew has spent $160.4 million out of a planned $250 million in its first buyback tranche since May 8.
- Employee-plan shares are set to be admitted July 6. First-half earnings land Aug. 4.
London was closed Friday, so Smith & Nephew plc (LON:SN) heads into Monday with a reduced share count and no change on the day. The main question for investors after the first-quarter report in May is still about U.S. knees: will growth there in the second half meet the 2026 targets?
Smith & Nephew finished Friday at 1,127p, adding 0.50p for the day. The stock lagged the FTSE 100, according to AJ Bell. Market cap stood near 9.52 billion pounds. The year’s range is 1,050p to 1,441.50p.
Smith & Nephew reported new capital account numbers on Friday. The RNS said the company bought 1,592,090 shares between June 26 and July 2, paying a volume-weighted average of 1,114.47p per share. Since May 8, total buybacks reached 10,668,678 shares for $160.4 million, with 34.3 million now held in treasury.
| Capital-flow item | Latest figure | Why investors care |
|---|---|---|
| Shares bought, June 26-July 2 | 1,592,090 | Buyback demand in the market |
| Average buyback price | 1,114.47p | Paid less than Friday’s close at 1,127p |
| Spend since May 8 | $160.4 mln | About 64% of $250 mln used |
| Remaining first tranche | $89.6 mln | Cash left until the Sept. 7 tranche finish |
| Employee-plan block admission | 150,000 shares | That’s 0.018% of voting shares |
| Buyback vs block admission | 10.6 times | Buyback is far bigger than plan issuance |
Source: company RNS filings, own calculations based on reported share count and Friday’s closing price.
This is a minor move compared to the buyback. The company said in Thursday’s RNS that 150,000 ordinary shares will be admitted to trading on July 6 to cover staff share awards. Based on Friday’s close, that comes to roughly £1.69 million worth of stock.
The buyback hasn’t moved the price much. Shares are roughly 22% under the year’s top, using AJ Bell’s yearly high and Friday close. The stock is just 7% up from the year’s low.
The first quarter split drove the move. Sports Medicine & ENT outpaced the rest, while Orthopaedics lagged on weak knees. Smith & Nephew reported U.S. Knee Implants dropped 10.3% in the quarter and flagged a new cementless LANDMARK Knee System due for the third quarter.
| Q1 2026 line | Revenue | Underlying growth | Market issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports Medicine & ENT | $491 mln | 6.7% | Growth here mainly balanced weaker knees |
| Advanced Wound Management | $411 mln | 2.2% | Reimbursement for skin substitutes reset |
| Orthopaedics | $599 mln | 0.8% | U.S. knee implant sales fell 10.3% |
| Group | $1.501 bln | 3.1% | Year target for growth still around 6% |
Source: Smith & Nephew Q1 update.
Smith & Nephew CEO Deepak Nath said in May that first-quarter results matched expectations. The company left guidance unchanged for around 6% underlying revenue growth, around 8% organic trading-profit growth and about $800 million in free cash flow.
Investors have eyed that heavy second half. CFO John Rogers in May told investors that first-half sales would rise about 3.5%, missing consensus at 4.2%, with the second half expected to see around 8% growth, Reuters reported. Oliver Metzger, an analyst at ODDO BHF, said “back-end phasing” can turn off investors. Reuters
RBC Capital Markets analyst Jack Reynolds-Clark didn’t mince words after the March full-year numbers, saying he did “not see today’s results as sufficient to underpin 2026 guidance” and warned about possible guidance cuts this year. Smith & Nephew CEO Deepak Nath told Reuters at the time that the company was keeping its targets. Reuters
July 6 brings the admission of 150,000 shares under the employee plan. Smith & Nephew’s next results come on Aug. 4 with the Q2 and first-half update.
