Unilever

UL

Market cap $141B

Unilever spun off its ice cream business, Magnum, simplifying operations and focusing on core segments with steadier growth and profitability. Post-spin, UL's revenue and margins become more stable, reducing volatility and improving cash flow quality due to lower capex and working capital needs. UL's dividend yield remains robust (3.5–4%), now funded by less cyclical cash flows, but offers little growth beyond inflation.

Unilever this year announced a plan to increase the number of influencers it works with by 20 times. Influencer marketing insiders say it led to a gold rush for some areas of the creator economy.

With The Magnum Ice Cream Company's supply-chain chills gone, the pressure is on Unilever to show that its shift towards beauty and wellbeing can fire up growth and margins.

Unilever PLC (UL) Discusses Leadership Transition, Portfolio Changes, and Cultural Transformation Transcript

Not all analysts are bullish about prospects for Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR) after it demerged its ice cream arm, with UBS keeping its 'sell' rating as it predicts difficulty for the shares.   While other analysts rushed to hail an exciting new era for the Hellmanns-to-Domestos maker, the Swiss bank trimmed its 12-month price target to 4,440p from 4,635p, citing subdued market growth and earnings dilution from the demerger of its tea, coffee and ice cream businesses, The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which was completed last weekend.

Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR) is entering what analysts at Barclays and JPMorgan believe is a game-changing period after scooping out its ice cream arm.  "We believe 2026 will be Unilever's inflection point," said Barclays, predicting a year when the Marmite, Hellmann's, Comfort and Domestos maker will "prove its volume muscle".

Unilever is allocating about 1.5 billion euros ($1.74 billion) a year for mergers and acquisitions, focusing heavily on deals in the United States, CEO Fernando Fernandez said on Tuesday.

Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR) shares showed a jump of nearly 13% in early trading on Tuesday, after the consumer goods giant completed a share consolidation following the demerger of its ice cream arm, The Magnum Ice Cream Company. The share consolidation was carried out at a ratio of eight new shares for every nine existing shares, with admission of the new shares taking place at the start of trading on Tuesday.

Major stock market indexes were mixed on Thursday. Some AI stocks rose while others fell as earnings results kept coming out.

Unilever's ice cream spinoff has become the world's largest standalone ice cream business after debuting on the Amsterdam stock market. The consumer goods giant first announced plans to spin off its ice cream unit, which includes Ben & Jerry's and Magnum, in March last year.