Haleon PLC (LSE:HLN, NYSE:HLN) topped the FTSE 100 losers' list after Barclays downgraded the consumer health group from “overweight” to “equal weight” and lowered its price target from 430p to 380p.
The broker said the problem lies in Haleon’s biggest market. The US makes up around a third of group sales but has been hit by slower category growth and retailers running down stock.
Barclays noted that Haleon is “overweight, declining US drug stores” and warned that destocking pressures could intensify in the second half of the year.
The company cut its 2025 organic sales growth target to about 3.5% at the half-year stage, down from 4%. To get there, it still needs growth to accelerate in the second half. Barclays is doubtful, saying it now expects only 3.1%.
There are also “new clouds on the horizon” in Latin America, where consumers are trading down, and in Europe, where pricing pressure is growing in Germany.
Against that backdrop, the bank prefers Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR), which has the same 2026 growth target but, in its view, a more convincing plan.
On the positive side, Haleon’s oral care brands, including Sensodyne and Parodontax, remain strong performers, and management’s £800 million cost-saving plan through to 2030 is already bolstering margins.
But the bank said profits alone will not be enough to excite the market: “Margins and earnings growth will unlikely be enough to deliver outperformance if Haleon doesn’t show an inflexion in the US.”
The shares were off 3% at 10.8p at 345.9p.