Jefferies cuts Danone on China nutrition slowdown, US competition

Danone SA

22/07/2026 11:55

** Jefferies cuts Danone  DANO.PA  to "underperform" from "buy,"
warning of a slowdown in the China nutrition market, rising
dairy competition in the United States that weigh on the French
food group 
    ** The brokerage says peer Chobani gained 270bps of share in
the U.S. Essential Dairy and Plant-based market while Danone
lost around 350bps over the last year
    ** "We worry Chobani has built a focused single-brand
protein platform and translated capacity investment into share
Danone spreads across multiple brands," Jefferies says
    ** On China, it notes that Danone's baby formula Aptamil
lost 280bps in online market share YoY in Q2 as Biostime and
Friesland Campina gained ground
    ** "The next 6-12m, we think, are determined by the balance
of China Nutrition slowdown vs. NORAM Dairy acceleration,"
Jefferies says, cutting its price target by 22.5% to €62 
    ** Danone shares down 0.9% 
    ** Out of 25 analysts that cover Danone SA, 16 rate the
stock "strong buy" or "buy,"​ seven rate "hold" and two​ rate
the stock "strong sell" or "sell" - LSEG data

 (Reporting by Ronan Corcoran in Gdansk)
 ((ronan.corcoran@thomsonreuters.com))