Smiths Group jumps 6% as margin beat reinforces Stifel 'buy' case

What Brokers Say Written by: Ephrem Joseph 03:39 Tue 22 Sep 2026 --> Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Ephrem Joseph Ephrem began his journalistic journey at Proactive in June 2021. With a strong academic background in Information Technology, his expertise particularly lies in the field of Cyber Security, Management Information Systems and Computer Forensics. Before joining Proactive, Ephrem worked as a researcher and lecturer at a number of leading universities, including the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, the University of Winchester’s Institute of Policing, and Jain... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Smiths Group ( LSE:SMIN ) View Price & Profile Smiths Group jumps 6% as margin beat reinforces Stifel 'buy' case Published: 03:39 22 Sep 2026 EDT Smiths Group (LSE:SMIN) PLC shares jumped as much as 6.3% to an intraday high of 2,754p after annual margins beat expectations, and broker Stifel said the results offered reassurance that growth should improve during the current year. Stifel retained its 'buy' recommendation and 3,000p price target, which represented 15.8% upside from Monday’s closing price before Tuesday’s rally. Organic revenue grew 1.2% in the year to July 2026, matching market consensus but falling short of the company’s previously reduced 2% guidance. However, Stifel calculated that the result implied organic growth of around 3.9% during the fourth quarter, a clear sequential improvement from the flat performance recorded during the third quarter. The operating margin increased by 20 basis points organically to 20.6%, beating the 20.2% market consensus and the company’s guidance for a result slightly above 20%. Continuing earnings per share rose 6% to 86.8p. John Crane delivered 2.3% organic growth despite an estimated £20 million impact from disruption in the Middle East. Excluding that effect, the division’s growth would have been around 4%. Flex-Tek returned to growth during the second half, advancing 0.9%. Stifel estimated that the division achieved mid-single-digit growth during the fourth quarter, including a 2.9% improvement from its construction operations. Smiths expects organic revenue to grow by around 4% during the year to July 2027, broadly matching the 3.9% market consensus, while its operating margin is forecast to reach approximately 21%. Growth at John Crane is expected to be weighted towards the second half as Middle East disruption continues, while Flex-Tek should benefit earlier from strength in aerospace and thermal solutions despite subdued US construction demand. Stifel noted that Smiths shares had traded sideways in recent months because of the limited improvement in underlying organic growth. However, the broker said the stronger fourth quarter and reassuring guidance suggested the current financial year should deliver better momentum. The broker’s longer-term investment case rests on Smiths’ transformation into a more focused industrial engineering group following the £3.3 billion disposal of its Interconnect and Detection businesses. It also expects the company’s substantial share-buyback programme and progress towards medium-term targets of between 5% and 7% organic growth and margins of between 21% and 23% to support earnings and shareholder returns. Continue reading