U.S. Consumer Staples: 2Q26 'All Consumer' EPS Preview

Research evidence excerpt

U.S. Consumer Staples: 2Q26 'All Consumer' EPS Preview

Equity Research

21 July 2026

U.S. Consumer Staples

2Q26 'All Consumer' EPS Preview

We think the band of interest within US Consumer Staples

remains quite narrow as few names seemingly boast a

dependably defensive outlook and attractive valuation. U.S. Food NEUTRAL

Unchanged

Given the heightened focus on the US consumer, we were especially intrigued by messaging U.S. CHPC & Beverages

NEUTRALfrom bank earnings last week that was generally more constructive than we would have Unchanged

anticipated. Importantly, there were examples of better-than-expected resilience that seemingly

U.S. CHPC & Beveragesapplied across income cohorts (i.e. it’s not just the top of the K-shaped economy making up for

Lauren R. Lieberman

the bottom increasingly falling out). Therefore, we’ll be interested to hear what our coverage

+1 212 526 3112

has to say about the current backdrop over this earnings season, particularly given some lauren.lieberman@barclays.com

companies have continued to highlight more pointed pressure on low income consumers this BCI, US

summer or slowing North America category growth (which we have seen play out in certain food

Kate Grafstein

categories). The juxtaposition on messaging highlights the volatility still to contend with and the

+1 212 526 5755

difficulty in building conviction in the face of mixed messages. kate.grafstein@barclays.com

BCI, US

Within CHPC and Beverages, we’ll be interested to see how companies discuss the outlook for

costs given recent volatility in commodities, particularly oil. Recall, during C1Q26 earnings Heather Gornik, CFA

season, several companies discussed a cost outlook that anchored to oil at $100/bbl (see our +1 212 526 9237