Beiersdorf Q3 sales slightly miss expectations as Nivea weakness persists (updated)

Beiersdorf AG

27/10/2026 07:36

Adds Nivea performance in paragraph 1, analysts' comments in paragraphs 3, 7, 8, adds chart, updates share move, headline
By Paolo Laudani and Cian Muenster
Oct 27 (Reuters) - German consumer goods maker Beiersdorf BEIG.DE marginally missed market expectations for third-quarter sales growth on Tuesday, with its key Nivea brand posting a third straight quarterly sales decline as weakness in sales to retailers persisted.
The company said organic sales fell 1.3% in the July-September period, compared with a 1.2% decline expected in a Vara consensus, while sales at its key Nivea brand dropped 4.9%.
"We struggle to remember any examples across Staples where a gap (chasm!) between sell-in and sell-out of this magnitude has persisted across three quarters," analysts at Bernstein said in a note.
Still, Beiersdorf described the weakness in sales to retailers as temporary, said momentum had improved from the second quarter and reiterated its full-year outlook.
The figures offered fresh insight into the pace of Nivea's recovery, a key issue for investors after Beiersdorf cut its outlook in August amid weaker-than-expected demand.
"At NIVEA, our turnaround plan is progressing well," Chief Executive Vincent Warnery said in a statement.
But Bernstein noted that the big question around Nivea remains unanswered, and that the Tesa self-adhesive business, whose sales fell 4.3% organically in the quarter, is also becoming a bigger issue. 
"That said, after eighteen months of recurrent communication issues, perhaps a relatively quiet update such as this is just what the doctor ordered?," it added.
Shares were down 3.8% as of 0835 GMT.

 (Reporting by Cian Muenster and Paolo Laudani in Gdansk; editing by Bartosz Dabrowski)
 ((Cian.Muenster@thomsonreuters.com))