Goldman upgrades Haleon to 'buy', shares spark

(Sharecast News) - Haleon rallied on Wednesday as Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to 'buy' from 'neutral' and lifted the price target to 440p from 415p, saying the current valuation offers an attractive entry point. "Haleon shares have declined 9% since post its Capital Markets Day on May 1st which provides a buying opportunity, in our view, given that H2 25 headwinds from the US and FX/scope are reflected in consensus, while the attractive fundamentals remain intact," the bank said.

Goldman said it expects around 5% organic sales growth in FY26-28, as North America returns to growth and emerging markets see volume benefits from affordability actions.

It also said the supply chain optimisation plans set out at the May CMD should deliver towards the top end of the range to FY27, underpinning around 8% organic EBIT growth while enabling A&P/R&D reinvestment. This will lead to 23.6% EBIT margins which remain below the circa 29% margin in Reckitt's former Health business, it said.

"We also believe enhanced profitability and working capital optimisation will drive a step up in underlying cash generation, despite increased capex to circa 4% of sales (from circa 3%), enabling enhanced cash returns and deleveraging."

Goldman added: "We believe the fundamentals of the group remain intact, with good visibility into next year, driving 11% EPS growth in FY26/27e."

At 0900 BST, the shares were up 2.4% at 368.60p.