Unilever raises full-year outlook after best volume quarter in a decade

Unilever ↘ 2.53% delivered its strongest quarterly volume performance in more than a decade on Tuesday, reporting underlying sales growth of 5.8% in the second quarter of 2026, well ahead of the 4.3% analyst consensus, and prompting the consumer goods giant to upgrade its full-year guidance.globalbankingandfinance+1

Record Volume Drives Share Surge

Volume growth of 5.5% in the quarter — described by CEO Fernando Fernandez as Unilever's "best volume quarter in over a decade" — powered the beat, with price contributing just 0.3 percentage points. Shares surged as much as 6.5% in early London trading on Tuesday.asktraders

For the first half as a whole, underlying sales grew 4.8%, with volume up 4.2% and turnover reaching €25.6 billion. Underlying operating margin improved 10 basis points to 20.3%, while underlying earnings per share rose 2.4% to €1.61.investegate+1

Upgraded Outlook

Management raised its full-year guidance, now expecting underlying sales growth within its 4%–6% multi-year range with around 3% volume growth — up from the prior floor of at least 2%. The company had previously said it expected to land at the "bottom end" of that range.unilever+2

Unilever also confirmed the completion of its €800 million productivity programme ahead of schedule and a €1.5 billion share buyback. A 3% increase in the quarterly dividend was announced alongside the results.investegate

Power Brands and Emerging Markets Lead

The performance was led by Unilever's Power Brands — including Dove, Vaseline, and Sunsilk — which had already demonstrated momentum in the first quarter with 5% underlying sales growth and 4% volume growth. Emerging markets, particularly India, Indonesia, and Latin America, continued to drive momentum, building on first-quarter emerging market growth of 5.7%.linkedin+1

The FTSE 100 company is also progressing with its planned separation of the Foods business with McCormick ↘ 3.32%, which remains on track.investegate