Corrected: BUZZ-Orange drops to bottom of CAC40 after Barclays signals limited short-term upside

Optimum Communications

17/06/2026 09:27

Corrects current trading price to reflect accurate day in the fifth bullet
** Orange shares fall around 3.7%, lagging at the bottom of the wider French blue-chip CAC40 index .FCHI following a resumption of coverage by Barclays at "equal weight"
** Broker says it sees potential in the French telecom group, but senses any value creation is likely to take time
** Barclays notes it expects the MasOrange acquisition to drive faster growth than Orange's French assets and positively views a potential stake in Altice SFR, although it deems the proposed price already reflects any expected operational and financial benefits 
** "We view the progress in French consolidation positively and see an elevated probability of approval with limited remedies. Still, given the price offered, we see upside when/if market repair materialises, which would take time," brokerage says 
** Wednesday's trading price closely tracks Barclays PT of €17, touching an intraday low of €16.82
** Up to the previous session's close, shares were up 23.3%​ YTD
** Out of 18 analysts that cover Orange, ten rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy" ​and eight rate it "hold" - LSEG data

 (Reporting by Jakob Van Calster)
 ((jakob.vancalster@thomsonreuters.com))