RBC Lifts Nestlé Price Target After Q3 Sales Update; Forecasts Revised

11:08 AM EDT, 10/22/2026 (MT Newswires) -- RBC Capital Markets raised its price target for Nestlé (NESN.SW) to 86 francs from 84 francs on Thursday, following the consumer goods giant's third-quarter sales update. Nestlé reported an increase in total group sales to 22.76 billion francs in the quarter from the year-ago 21.64 billion francs, with real internal growth improving over the period to 2.8%. "This feels like what Nestlé's investors want it to do, delivering respectable and predictable sales performance, reiterating full year guidance, exploiting its diversified portfolio so that the outperformers offset the underperformers, and so on. It sounds easy, but evidently it's not," the research firm said. "This is not to say that Nestlé has suddenly answered all the doubters (we continue to question the sustainability to 2% RIG, for example), but Nestlé seems to be rediscovering its status as a default defensive investment." Against this backdrop, RBC revised its revenue, EPS and EBITA forecasts for the group for 2026 through 2028. The sector perform rating on the Swiss stock was maintained.