Unilever Kept at Buy as BofA Notes Improved Commercial Capabilities

06:32 AM EST, 11/05/2026 (MT Newswires) -- BofA Global Research reiterated its buy rating on Unilever (ULVR.L, UNA.AS) following the consumer goods giant's recent investor event, which highlighted the company's progress in improving its commercial capabilities. "The Unilever CMD was primarily a marketing event showcasing the transformation into a focused [home and personal care] company and the group's relentless focus on marketing and demand creation. Overall, we saw plenty of evidence that Unilever's commercial capabilities have improved (AI and digital focus, speed of innovation to market etc) and compare very favourably against its European Food HPC peer group. The advantaged geographical exposure of the HPC business remains a key differentiator," analysts wrote in a Thursday note. In its Investor Event release, Unilever said it expects its 2027 performance to be in line with its medium-term financial algorithm, targeting annual underlying sales growth of between 4% and 6, and at least 2% underlying volume growth. "After strong volume delivery in 2026 (we forecast 4.6% volume growth and 6.3% OG for the HPC business), 2027 becomes the key test of whether Unilever can compound growth despite a very strong base in emerging markets. Our current forecasts for the HPC business assume 5.3% OG of which 2.3% volume," BofA added. The stock's price objective stands at 57 pounds sterling.