Greggs wins Panmure Liberum upgrade as Deutsche Bank raises target

What Brokers Say Retail & Consumer Written by: Ian Lyall 07:00 Thu 01 Oct 2026 --> Edited by: Jamie Ashcroft Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Ian Lyall Ian Lyall, a seasoned journalist and editor, brings over three decades of experience to his role as Managing Editor at Proactive. Overseeing Proactive's editorial and broadcast operations across six offices on three continents, Ian is responsible for quality control, editorial policy, and content production. He directs the creation of 50,000 pieces of real-time news, feature articles, and filmed interviews annually. Prior to Proactive, Ian helped lead the business output at the Daily... 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. Greggs PLC ( LSE:GRG ) View Price & Profile Greggs wins Panmure Liberum upgrade as Deutsche Bank raises target Published: 07:00 01 Oct 2026 EDT Greggs PLC (LSE:GRG) , the bakery chain, has won an upgrade from Panmure Liberum and a higher price target from Deutsche Bank after stronger third-quarter sales prompted Panmure to raise its profit forecasts. Panmure Liberum has upgraded the bakery chain to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, raising its target price to 2,440p from 1,560p. The broker said sales had accelerated meaningfully in the third quarter, prompting management to raise its full-year profit guidance. Total sales rose 7.7% in the 13 weeks to 26 September, with company-managed like-for-like sales up 3.4%, compared with 2.1% growth in the first half. Panmure Liberum said the acceleration was helped by more settled weather in August and September, along with menu innovation including the launch of a Steak and Stilton Bake and seasonal hot drinks. The broker raised its pre-tax profit forecasts by around 2% to reflect the stronger trading, with full-year pre-tax profit now expected to grow around 3.5% to approximately £178 million. Greggs opened 95 shops and closed 38 so far this year, resulting in 57 net openings, with management maintaining guidance for 100 to 110 net openings across the full year. The company has proposed consolidating its manufacturing operations, potentially closing four sites and affecting around 740 roles. Panmure Liberum said the plan would require around £60 million in cash costs and was expected to generate approximately £20 million of annual pre-tax cash savings across the 2028 and 2029 financial years. Deutsche Bank, which maintained its 'sell' rating on Greggs, raised its target price to 1,420p from 1,330p, saying third-quarter like-for-like sales growth of 3.4% was slightly ahead of its own 2.9% forecast. Analyst Tim Barrett noted this represented an acceleration from 1.7% growth reported in the second quarter, with year-to-date trading now running at 2.6%, ahead of a Bloomberg consensus estimate of 2.3%. Deutsche Bank said Greggs had opened a further 23 net stores in the third quarter, taking the total to 57 for the year, while retaining its guidance of 100 to 110 net openings, a figure cut at the half-year results. The broker said Greggs’ cost inflation guidance for 2026 remained unchanged at around 2%, although the company had flagged signs of greater inflationary pressure in 2027. Deutsche Bank said Greggs' chief financial officer quantified the expected improvement to the full-year outcome on an analyst call as a mid-single-digit uplift. Continue reading