Shares in Swiss consumer goods company Nestlé posted further gains on Friday (31 May) morning after a rally a day earlier sparked by upbeat comments from CEO Mark Schneider.
Shares in Nestlé rose by as much as 2.1% after jumping by more than 3% on Thursday, when Schneider said during a fireside chat with JPMorgan that business was "noticeably picking up pace" after a slow start to the year.
The stock later pared early gains somewhat.
Schneider, who said the firm was sticking to its target of around 4% organic sales growth this year, noted that brand support and "significant innovation hitting the shelves" would help underpin strong real internal growth this quarter.
Nestlé's stock, which has been drifting downwards since early 2022, is still more than 3% lower in 2024.
'Stabilising The Supertanker'
Analysts at Barclays said in a note entitled "stabilising the supertanker" that the expected improvement is not due to an assumption of a better consumer backdrop, but rather actions Nestlé is taking to step up innovation and fix pending issues.
Noting that Schneider had done "a pretty convincing job addressing the key bear points," Barclays added, however: "Of course the numbers will really do the talking and they are 'not out of the woods,' and obviously still need to string together a few consistent quarters of steady delivery with no surprises."
Recently, the food giant said it would market a new, $5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
