Diageo falls as Deutsche Bank downgrades ahead of results and reset
Published: 06:58 29 Jul 2026 EDT
Diageo PLC (LSE:DGE) shares fell 2.3% to 1,634p after Deutsche Bank downgraded the Guinness maker following the recent outperformance of its shares.
The German bank moved to a 'hold' rating from 'buy' after noting that the shares had gained 22% since its upgrade at the end of March, outperforming the European food and beverage sector by 11 percentage points.
Deutsche retained its 1,700p price target, offering potential upside of around 4% from the current share price. Its underlying forecasts were also broadly unchanged.
Analyst Mitch Collett said Diageo's results for the 2026 financial year, due next Thursday, 6 August, should be in line with consensus.
The Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff producer is also expected to provide a strategy update, eight months after Dave Lewis moved into the chief executive's chair, with a "reset" aimed at making the business more competitive as Diageo moves into a new financial year.
Collett warned that there is a "broad range of potential outcomes" and, following the shares' recent recovery, sees greater downside than upside risk.
The analyst said he also believes market forecasts for the 2027 financial year and beyond remain "materially too optimistic". Its earnings-per-share estimate is 10% below the Bloomberg consensus forecast.
