Berenberg Adjusts Diageo Forecasts After Fiscal Q1 Results

07:01 AM EST, 11/06/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Berenberg adjusted its forecasts for Diageo (DGE.L) amid a model update following the London-listed alcoholic beverage group's fiscal first-quarter trading statement. Diageo logged a 1.4% increase in organic net sales for the period, against the consensus estimate of a 0.4% decline, the research firm wrote in a note published Friday. "The beat was driven by North America falling by 3.6% (consensus: -6.7%), despite lapping last year's tariff-driven stock build, and Asia-Pacific rising by 4.1% (consensus: +0.8%) against an easy Chinese white spirits comparative. FY27 guidance is unchanged, including broadly flat organic net sales (consensus: +0.38%) and low-to-mid-single-digit organic operating profit growth (consensus: +3.4%)," according to analysts. "The consensus beat in North America, stable distributor inventory and underlying momentum in Guinness, Smirnoff ready-to-drink (RTD) products and Scotch support our view that execution in North America is improving, ahead of the main capital markets day (CMD) benefits." Taking this and currency movements into account, Berenberg made "minimal" changes to its earnings estimates for fiscal 2027, including nudging up its net sales, operating profit and EPS projections by 0.1%. For fiscal 2028, the forecasts for all three metrics were also lowered. The buy recommendation on the stock and price target of 22.23 pounds sterling remain unchanged.