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Investing.com -- Shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:RKT) traded higher on Thursday following an upgrade to “outperform” by analysts at Bernstein. This revision in rating comes with a new target price of £65, up from the previous £55.
The upgrade follows a period where Reckitt’s stock was up approximately 4% year-to-date, lagging behind its peer group and the broader market.
This underperformance was largely attributed to a challenging first quarter in 2025, where the company reported organic growth of 1.1%, around 30 basis points below analyst consensus.
Volume growth was particularly disappointing, falling around 140 basis points behind expectations, resulting in a negative territory of -1.9%.
The positive price-mix only partially offset this decline in volume. Furthermore, the "Essential Home" business, slated for divestiture, saw a 7% organic sales decrease during the quarter, leading to concerns about its valuation amidst tariff pressures.
Despite these challenges, Bernstein analysts expressed increased optimism for Reckitt’s future performance, citing three primary factors.
First, execution has shown notable improvement. Poor market share performance was a key reason for a previous downgrade of the stock.
In the past six months, Reckitt, according to industry data, has shown steady improvement with near-stable market share in the United States, Europe, and China.
Second, expectations regarding the company’s catalyst path have become more realistic.
Toward the end of last year, there was a concern that the market had overly bullish expectations for the "Essential Home" divestiture and the resolution of NEC trials. Subsequent disappointments earlier this year regarding both matters have led to more grounded market expectations, providing a more comfortable outlook for future catalysts, despite potential delays due to tariff uncertainty.
Finally, the analysts anticipate a more optimistic performance for Reckitt in the United States during the second half of 2025.
This outlook is based on easier comparisons as the company laps previous supply chain issues related to Mead Johnson and the anniversary of Clorox (NYSE:CLX)’s cybersecurity attack. These factors contribute to increased confidence that Reckitt can meet its full-year guidance.
Given the visible improvements in execution, a more favorable catalyst trajectory, and positive indicators for accelerated growth in the latter half of 2025, Bernstein analysts believe Reckitt’s current valuation is unduly low.