London, June 27, 2026, 15:05 BST
- Unilever finished Friday at 4,600.50p, rising 0.46%. Shares were up in every session last week, making for a 5.43% jump since June 19.
- FTSE 100 slipped 0.21% Friday, but ended the week up 1.5%. Unilever outperformed with a lead of around 3.9 percentage points.
- About 90% of Unilever’s weekly gains happened before Friday, before the Thorne news hit. Later, Reuters said three sources told them Unilever didn’t make a bid.
- Unilever’s next event is Q2 and half-year results on July 28.
London Stock Exchange is closed Saturday. Regular trading happens Monday to Friday from 0800 to 1630 local. Friday’s close is the last London price for Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR). ULVR trades ordinary shares in London.
Unilever finished Friday at 4,600.50p, adding 21p on the day. Shares ended last week at 4,363.50p, so the stock rose 237p, or 5.43%, over the week. That was five daily gains in a row. The rally followed Unilever’s June 5 statement that it wrapped up its €1.5 billion buyback, buying back 30.7 million shares.
Unilever’s price action this week didn’t line up with the idea of a clean “Thorne rally.” The shares rose 29p Monday, 61p Tuesday, then hit 90.5p on Wednesday. Gains slipped to 35.5p Thursday and just 21p Friday. Friday only saw under a tenth of the total rise for the week. Shareprices
Haleon (LON:HLN) made a bid for U.S. supplements maker Thorne, Reuters said on Friday. Earlier, the Financial Times said Unilever was one of the bidders, but three sources told Reuters Unilever did not make a bid. Unilever would not comment. According to the FT, Thorne could reach a $4 billion valuation. Reuters also cited Grand View Research, which sees the U.S. dietary supplements market at $68.74 billion in 2025 and expects $131.08 billion by 2033.
Unilever’s split-and-focus move is back in play for investors. McCormick & Company NYSE:MKC, which is buying Unilever’s food arm, topped second-quarter earnings expectations on Thursday. Reuters reported McCormick’s adjusted earnings hit 80 cents a share, beating the 69-cent forecast. Revenue jumped 16.7% to $1.94 billion. The company kept its full-year sales and profit outlook.
Unilever holders are watching this deal because they’ll get 65% of the new company’s fully diluted equity and $15.7 billion in cash. The transaction—part cash, part future McCormick equity—puts an enterprise value of $44.8 billion on Unilever Foods.
Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez told a Deutsche Bank consumer conference this month the company isn’t willing “to kick the can down the road” when it comes to fixing its portfolio. Fernandez said Unilever proved through the ice cream separation that it can carve out a complicated unit and still boost performance. He said they plan to do the same with the foods business. Unilever
Unilever CFO Srinivas Phatak said at the event volume growth at Unilever is “well ahead of the market”. He said underlying volume growth has come in over 2.4% for nine quarters, topping the market’s roughly 2.1% and the peer group’s less than 1%. Unilever
Unilever’s first-quarter report puts the focus on July. The group posted 3.8% underlying sales growth, with volumes up 2.9% and prices up 0.9%. Home Care rose 6.1%; Europe slipped 0.9%. Fernandez called it a “volume-led growth” start from Power Brands. Guidance stays unchanged, with Unilever sticking to its 2026 underlying sales growth target at the lower end of 4% to 6%, including at least 2% volume growth. Unilever
Unilever’s report on July 28 is the main event to watch, with focus on whether the company can keep up volume without new buyback support. Thorne isn’t top of mind in the trade this week. A higher McCormick share price would clean up the food deal numbers. Unilever is set to release Q2 and half-year results.
