No recommendation
No news or research item is a personal recommendation to deal. Hargreaves Lansdown may not share ShareCast's (powered by Digital Look) views.
(Sharecast News) - Shares in Nivea-maker Beiersdorf tumbled on Tuesday, after the German company warned of challenging market conditions and weak consumer demand.
Beiersdorf, which also owns Eucerin, La Prairie, Chantecaille and Elastoplast, said net sales in its consumer business were on track to be flat to "slightly growing" in 2026.
In particular, it noted that the global skin market would likely "remain challenging, with continued volatility and cautious demand", and warned: "The first quarter is expected to come in below the full-year range, affected by disruptions in the US retail and China travel retail landscape as well as a lower impact from innovations at Nivea compared to the fourth quarter."
The margin from ongoing operations was also forecast to be slightly down year-on-year in the consumer business, hit by higher raw material costs and unfavourable currency movements. Beiersdorf also flagged similarly demanding market conditions at its Tesa adhesive tapes division.
As a result, the Hamburg-based group said net sales were forecast to be flat to slightly growing on an organic basis in 2026, with the group EBIT margin "slightly down" year-on-year.
As at 1230 GMT, the Frankfurt-listed stock had plunged nearly 20%.
Vincent Warnery, chief executive, said: "2025 was a demanding year for the skincare industry, marked by slowing growth and continued market volatility. Beiersdorf delivered solid results and once again clearly outperformed the global skincare market.
"Growth at Nivea slowed in a challenging mass-market environment. This is why we have initiated a focused rebalancing of the Nivea portfolio, to help restore momentum over time.
"With strong brands, deep skincare expertise and a clear strategic focus, Beiersdorf remains well positioned, even as market conditions remain volatile in 2026."
Group sales rose 2.4% on an organic basis in 2025 to 9.9bn. Within that, consumer sales ticked up 2.5% on the same basis, to 8.2bn, and by 1.8% at Tesa to 1.7bn. Group EBIT before one-off factors rose to 1.38bn from 1.37bn.
Germany's Tchibo Holding is the controlling shareholder in Beiersdorf, with a 49.9% stake.