Stock market Nestlé shares fall to lowest level since the beginning of 2019

The decline in Nestlé shares accelerated at the end of the week. On Friday afternoon, the shares of the food giant reached a level last seen at the beginning of 2019.

At around 4.45 p.m., Nestlé shares on the Swiss stock exchange had lost 3.2 percent and were trading at just CHF 82.64. The shares have been in a nosedive since the beginning of the year; in January, they were still trading at around 100 francs.

The main trigger for the price slide on Friday was a pessimistic analyst commentary from UBS. The expert further lowered both his profit forecasts and the price target for the shares. He assumes that the food company will revise its forecasts for 2024 downwards.

A share trader told the news agency AWP on Friday afternoon that several analysts had recently significantly reduced their estimates and share price targets. For example, Morgan Stanley analysts downgraded their rating to "underweight" at the beginning of the week. In addition, some "safe-haven" purchases of the defensive stock from the weekend would now be dropped, noted another market observer.

According to the trader, the market is also realizing that many of the French-Swiss group's problems are homemade. Competitors such as Danone could show significantly better results. At the end of August, Nestlé surprisingly replaced its CEO. Now Nestlé veteran Laurent Freixe is to get the company back on track.

SDA