Top of the Street: British retailers, Reckitt Benckiser, Smith & Nephew

Associated British Foods

15/12/2025 10:22

A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:

** Jefferies cuts Primark-owner Associated British Foods ABF.L to "underperform" from "neutral" and trims its PT to 1,800p from 2,000p, saying the retailer's challenges are likely to continue

** Jefferies also downgrades British retailers Next NXT.L and Tesco TSCO.L to "hold" from "buy", citing peak valuations, tough comparable sales and an unhelpful macro backdrop

** Morgan Stanley downgrades British personal care products maker Reckitt Benckiser RKT.L to "equal-weight" from "overweight", saying its recent share outperformance means risk-reward is now more balanced

**  RBC cuts UK medical technology company Smith & Nephew SN.L to "sector perform" from "outperform", citing material risk of downgrades to 2026 guidance

(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. The scale is from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being the best. Analysts are ranked on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)

(Reporting by Mathias de Rozario and Elviira Luoma in Gdansk)

((Elviira.Luoma@thomsonreuters.com; mathias.derozario@thomsonreuters.com))