Swiss food giant Nestle’s stock fell by about 1% amid pessimistic comments from analysts at Barclays. Experts downgraded the company’s second-quarter organic sales growth forecast from 4.0% to 3.7%, citing a difficult macroeconomic situation and weak consumer demand in the US retail sector. Despite strong performance in the coffee and animal feed business at the beginning of the year, the US market continues to pose serious challenges for businesses.

Nestle’s financial statements for the first half of 2026 will be published on 23 July. According to Barclays, a key positive factor will be real domestic growth at 2% and above, as the price contribution begins to decline. In the second quarter, the company should also experience a lessening of the negative impact of the recent recall of baby food. If in the first quarter this problem reduced organic growth by 90 basis points (half of which was a one-off effect due to shortage of goods in warehouses), then according to the results of the year the overall impact on the group is estimated by management at 30-40 basis points.

Additional support for Nestle will have the effect of a low comparison base in China. In the second quarter of 2025, the company relaunched its business in the region, shifting from a distribution model to one focused on consumer demand, with sales falling by about 10% over four quarters. This effect will now enter the comparison database, which will improve statistics. Despite the current difficulties, management of Nestle maintains annual organic sales growth forecast in the range of 3-4%, counting on an increase in real volume contribution as prices stabilize.