
Picture supply: Getty Photos
Simply when it seems like Diageo (LSE: DGE) shares have lastly turned a nook, down they go once more. What I hoped was the most important restoration play on the FTSE 100 now seems extra like a price entice. So which is it?
I purchased the inventory after its first revenue warning in November 2023 and I’ve averaged down thrice since. Regardless of that, I’m down nearly 35%.
The price-of-living disaster has battered Diageo’s premium drinks technique as customers commerce all the way down to cheaper manufacturers. The weak spot first appeared in Latin America and the Caribbean however rapidly unfold to the US, Europe and China. It was aggravated by US tariffs, forex volatility, Gen Z sobriety and the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss medicine.
Can this FTSE 100 inventory get better?
Contrarians who obtained excited by the restoration story and threw £10,000 on the Johnnie Walker, Baileys, Smirnoff, Guinness and Tanqueray maker final week may have a bitter aftertaste at present. The Diageo share worth opened at 1,609p on 28 Might. As we speak (4 June) it trades at 1,485p. That’s a fall of seven.7%, lowering that £10k stake to £9,230. It’s a paper lack of £770 in a matter of days.
In fact, shares transfer up and down on a regular basis and traders ought to look past short-term setbacks. However the longer-term development is grim. Diageo shares have plunged 25% over one yr and nearly 55% over 5.
Dividends could soften the blow, however not by a lot. Particularly after new broom CEO Sir David Lewis halved the interim payout on 25 February.
Can Lewis rescue Diageo?
Lewis additionally reduce steerage after gross sales and underlying working revenue each dropped 2.8%. That triggered Diageo’s worst buying and selling day on document, with the shares plunging 12.7% in a single session. This tipple is all hangover and no fizz. A fast look at working revenue over the past 5 years explains why.
- 2025 — $4.34bn
- 2024 — $6bn
- 2023 — $5.55bn
- 2022 — $5.9bn
- 2021 — $5.16bn
The sharp 2025 decline largely mirrored impairment expenses and restructuring prices, however the figures nonetheless make sober studying. Diageo’s Q3 buying and selling replace on 6 Might introduced some aid although. Gross sales edged up 0.3% to $4.5bn. Analysts had anticipated a 2.3% decline. Earlier Easter buying and selling helped (however may impression This fall). So did advance commerce shopping for forward of the FIFA World Cup.
I nonetheless see causes for optimism. Lewis engineered a outstanding turnaround at Tesco and I’m backing him to repeat the trick right here. He started his tenure at Tesco in 2014 by chucking each little bit of dangerous information at traders, a course of generally known as kitchen sinking. That hammered expectations and created a decrease base for restoration. He’s adopted the identical script at Diageo. Arguably, he had little selection. There’s a lot dangerous information right here.
Is the share worth lastly low cost sufficient?
Diageo additionally carries web debt above $20bn and rising rates of interest make that dearer to service. One factor seems low cost although. The valuation. The group’s price-to-earnings ratio has slipped to round 12, the bottom I can bear in mind.
Lewis will slash prices and push disposals to scale back debt, and I’ll be watching his progress like a hawk. I’m sorely tempted to common down once more, however Diageo’s restoration could take some time but.
Do you have to make investments £5,000 in Diageo Plc proper now?
When investing knowledgeable Mark Rogers and his group have a inventory tip, it could possibly pay to pay attention. In spite of everything, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor e-newsletter he has run for practically a decade has supplied hundreds of paying members with prime inventory suggestions from the UK and US markets.
And proper now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout shares that traders ought to contemplate shopping for. Need to see if Diageo Plc made the checklist?
Harvey Jones owns shares in Diageo

Picture supply: Getty Photos
Simply when it seems like Diageo (LSE: DGE) shares have lastly turned a nook, down they go once more. What I hoped was the most important restoration play on the FTSE 100 now seems extra like a price entice. So which is it?
I purchased the inventory after its first revenue warning in November 2023 and I’ve averaged down thrice since. Regardless of that, I’m down nearly 35%.
The price-of-living disaster has battered Diageo’s premium drinks technique as customers commerce all the way down to cheaper manufacturers. The weak spot first appeared in Latin America and the Caribbean however rapidly unfold to the US, Europe and China. It was aggravated by US tariffs, forex volatility, Gen Z sobriety and the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss medicine.
Can this FTSE 100 inventory get better?
Contrarians who obtained excited by the restoration story and threw £10,000 on the Johnnie Walker, Baileys, Smirnoff, Guinness and Tanqueray maker final week may have a bitter aftertaste at present. The Diageo share worth opened at 1,609p on 28 Might. As we speak (4 June) it trades at 1,485p. That’s a fall of seven.7%, lowering that £10k stake to £9,230. It’s a paper lack of £770 in a matter of days.
In fact, shares transfer up and down on a regular basis and traders ought to look past short-term setbacks. However the longer-term development is grim. Diageo shares have plunged 25% over one yr and nearly 55% over 5.
Dividends could soften the blow, however not by a lot. Particularly after new broom CEO Sir David Lewis halved the interim payout on 25 February.
Can Lewis rescue Diageo?
Lewis additionally reduce steerage after gross sales and underlying working revenue each dropped 2.8%. That triggered Diageo’s worst buying and selling day on document, with the shares plunging 12.7% in a single session. This tipple is all hangover and no fizz. A fast look at working revenue over the past 5 years explains why.
- 2025 — $4.34bn
- 2024 — $6bn
- 2023 — $5.55bn
- 2022 — $5.9bn
- 2021 — $5.16bn
The sharp 2025 decline largely mirrored impairment expenses and restructuring prices, however the figures nonetheless make sober studying. Diageo’s Q3 buying and selling replace on 6 Might introduced some aid although. Gross sales edged up 0.3% to $4.5bn. Analysts had anticipated a 2.3% decline. Earlier Easter buying and selling helped (however may impression This fall). So did advance commerce shopping for forward of the FIFA World Cup.
I nonetheless see causes for optimism. Lewis engineered a outstanding turnaround at Tesco and I’m backing him to repeat the trick right here. He started his tenure at Tesco in 2014 by chucking each little bit of dangerous information at traders, a course of generally known as kitchen sinking. That hammered expectations and created a decrease base for restoration. He’s adopted the identical script at Diageo. Arguably, he had little selection. There’s a lot dangerous information right here.
Is the share worth lastly low cost sufficient?
Diageo additionally carries web debt above $20bn and rising rates of interest make that dearer to service. One factor seems low cost although. The valuation. The group’s price-to-earnings ratio has slipped to round 12, the bottom I can bear in mind.
Lewis will slash prices and push disposals to scale back debt, and I’ll be watching his progress like a hawk. I’m sorely tempted to common down once more, however Diageo’s restoration could take some time but.
Do you have to make investments £5,000 in Diageo Plc proper now?
When investing knowledgeable Mark Rogers and his group have a inventory tip, it could possibly pay to pay attention. In spite of everything, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor e-newsletter he has run for practically a decade has supplied hundreds of paying members with prime inventory suggestions from the UK and US markets.
And proper now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout shares that traders ought to contemplate shopping for. Need to see if Diageo Plc made the checklist?
Harvey Jones owns shares in Diageo

















