Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:RKT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:RKT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported GBX 101.40 earnings per share for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. Reckitt Benckiser Group had a return on equity of 45.27% and a net margin of 22.40%.

Here are the key takeaways from Reckitt Benckiser Group’s conference call:

• Q2 growth accelerated significantly, with Core Reckitt like-for-like revenue up 4.2% and volume growth reaching 2%, supported by balanced volume and price/mix contributions across all areas and categories.
• Emerging markets remained a key growth engine, delivering 9.4% like-for-like growth in Q2 and 12 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in China, led by Dettol, VMS and continued innovation.
• Management reiterated 2026 guidance for 4%–5% Core Reckitt revenue growth and a 24.9%–25.6% adjusted operating margin, expecting stronger second-half performance from pricing, innovation, geographic mix and a more normal seasonal OTC cycle.
• Profitability remained under pressure: Core Reckitt and Mead Johnson gross margin fell 50 basis points to 60.5%, while adjusted EPS declined 9.7% to £1.521, primarily due to higher input costs and the loss of Essential Home earnings.
• Reckitt announced a further £500 million share buyback and increased its interim dividend by 5%, taking shareholder returns since the 2024 strategic plan announcement to more than £6 billion.

Reckitt Benckiser Group Stock Up 3.7%

RKT stock traded up GBX 192 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching GBX 5,368. 69,557,961 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,192,373. The company has a market cap of £34.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 4,809.71 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 5,289.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 108.83, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Reckitt Benckiser Group has a 12 month low of GBX 3,866 and a 12 month high of GBX 6,522.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RKT shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 5,900 price objective on shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 6,200 price objective on shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Reckitt Benckiser Group from GBX 7,000 to GBX 6,200 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group from GBX 5,460 to GBX 5,430 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut their target price on shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group from GBX 7,000 to GBX 6,200 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 6,247.14.

Insider Activity at Reckitt Benckiser Group

In other Reckitt Benckiser Group news, insider Deepak Nath acquired 257 shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 4,650 per share, for a total transaction of £11,950.50. Also, insider Shannon Eisenhardt bought 432 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of £432 per share, for a total transaction of £186,624. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 1,029 shares of company stock valued at $21,416,350. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

About Reckitt Benckiser Group

At Reckitt, we protect, heal and nurture. We are the company behind some of the world’s best known and most trusted Health and Hygiene consumer brands.

Delivering for a cleaner, healthier world requires strong brands with a global footprint. From Dettol, Lysol, Durex, Finish, Harpic and Vanish, Mucinex, Nurofen, Gaviscon, Veet and Strepsils, consumers love and rely on our brands to care for their families, as they have done for over 200 years.

We use our scientific expertise and deep human understanding to develop solutions to help people improve their lives – that is why over 30 million Reckitt products are sold each day worldwide.

At Reckitt, we’re all making a real difference to people all over the world, every day.