Haleon stock price plummeted due to weak Q4 sales and cautious guidance for 2026

LootboxPhobia · 2026-02-25T10:55:08+00:00

Haleon stock price fell over 4% due to only 2.1% organic sales growth in the fourth quarter, which was below expectations. The company guided for future growth of 3-5%, below market consensus, with continued drag from the cold season expected, and poor performance in North America and emerging markets. Management remains cautious about the near-term outlook.

LootboxPhobia

2026-02-25 10:55:08

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Investing.com - Haleon shares fell after the consumer health group reported weaker-than-expected organic sales growth in Q4 and issued a cautious near-term outlook.

As of 08:12 GMT, the stock declined over 4% in London morning trading.

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Organic sales growth in Q4 was 2.1%, below the 3.5% consensus expected by Jefferies. Volume declined by 0.3%, while price increases were about 2.4%, roughly in line with expectations.

The company noted that the cold and flu season caused a 1.5 percentage point drag, mainly due to weakness in Central Europe, which is expected to continue into Q1.

North American sales declined 1.0% year-over-year, roughly in line with forecasts, but volume was disappointing at -3.7%, a key metric since the company previously guided about -1% for the region. Emerging markets growth slowed to approximately 5.7%, down from 7.1% in Q3, with Brazil marked as a weak spot.

Haleon’s full-year profit margin was 22.9%, above the 22.6% consensus estimate.

Looking ahead, the company guided for 3-5% organic sales growth in 2026, below the approximately 4.6% consensus expected by Visible Alpha. Management cited the weak cold and flu season and challenging consumer environment as reasons for a more cautious near-term outlook, while reaffirming a mid-term growth target of 4-6% after this year.

Jefferies analyst David Hayes said in a post-earnings report: “We are concerned this is not good enough.” “The guidance was downgraded to 3-5% (from 4-6% mid-term guidance). We expect HLN to perform significantly poorly this morning.”

“He added that the 1.5 percentage point drag was mainly due to Europe, caused by a weak cold and flu season. However, he believes this dynamic was not fully priced in before the Q4 close.”

Haleon expects operating profit margins to grow at a high single-digit organic rate, approaching 24%, above the nearly 23.2% consensus. The company also noted that if current exchange rates persist, currency effects will reduce sales and operating profit by about 1 percentage point, and guided for a tax rate of 24.5%.

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