US Consumer Staples: The Weekly Tab: Finishing Strong Into Halftime?

Research evidence excerpt

US Consumer Staples: The Weekly Tab: Finishing Strong Into Halftime?

Global Research

26 June 2026ab

US Consumer Staples Equities

AmericasThe Weekly Tab: Finishing Strong Into Halftime?

Household Products

Peter Grom

Bouncing Off The Bottom But Sentiment Far From Constructive Analyst

This week, the XLP outperformed the S&P by +268bps, marking 6 of the last 13 weeks in peter.grom@ubs.com

which Staples have outperformed. Our discussions suggest that sentiment across the +1-212-713 3482

group is improving at the margin, though it remains far from constructive overall. The Sona Fernandes

shift in tone appears largely driven by a view that trends are holding in better than feared Analyst

and easing input cost pressures, most notably oil, could support a more stable earnings sona.fernandes@ubs.com

outlook. This dynamic has been especially pronounced within HPC, but we have also +1-212-649 8050

fielded more questions across SMID-cap names in our coverage, with several stocks up Chirac Ndetan

+DD in recent weeks (see below for further detail). More broadly, we think the Associate Analyst

improving tone reflects expectations resetting off depressed levels, but we think market chirac.ndetan@ubs.com

rotation/positioning is a contributing factor of the move as well. Looking ahead, we are +1-212-649 7501

encouraged by the recent improvement, but given the outperformance across many Arian Chakravarty

pockets of the group over the last several weeks, the risk/reward has become far more Associate Analyst

balanced, making for a tricky setup as we head into 2Q earnings season. arian.chakravarty@ubs.com

+1-212-713 1474

Stocks/Events In Focus This Week: Antara Nag-Chaudhuri

McCormick & Co (Neutral): MKC reported an F2Q EPS beat, driven by margin Associate Analyst