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World's largest spirits company, making and selling Scotch whisky, vodka, gin, tequila and beer brands globally.
World's largest spirits company, making and selling Scotch whisky, vodka, gin, tequila and beer brands globally.
Earns by selling premium spirits, from Scotch and vodka to tequila, mostly through distributors and retailers, so brand strength and the shift toward higher-priced bottles drive profit. North America is the largest market. It holds a minority stake in Moet Hennessy and controls United Spirits in India, with Guinness providing a beer business.
In one line: Global spirits leader, comparable to a much larger Brown-Forman.
Moat: wide (brand, distribution, scale). Decades-aged whisky stocks and iconic global brands are extremely hard for a new entrant to replicate.
Headquarters: London, UK · Founded: 1997 · Employees: 27,972
Size Diageo (DGE.L) is a United Kingdom Consumer Staples company (Beverages: Alcoholic) with a market value of $56.3B, the 19th largest of 363 United Kingdom companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at £1,882 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 25.1%, against +9.7% for the median peer and +3.6% for the United Kingdom market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 14 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 6.5% over the last twelve months (peer median +0.8%); the operating margin is 28.9% (peer median 25.8%).
Valuation It trades at 15.2× forward earnings against a peer median of 15.9× (7th cheapest of 14).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -1% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +3%, so the hurdle is -4 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 5.2 points above its cost of capital (6.8% WACC).
Credit Diageo has 15 bonds outstanding ($10.8B), rated A- by the agencies and trading like AA- at a weighted spread of 76 bp.
Next results Next results expected around 28 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2026 | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £14.6B | £14.6B | £15.6B | £16.1B | £17.1B |
| Revenue growth | — | -6% | -3% | -6% | — |
| Gross profit | £8.71B | £8.76B | £9.47B | £9.74B | £10.3B |
| EBITDA | £4.79B | £4.80B | £5.00B | £5.27B | £5.84B |
| Net income | £1.30B | £1.29B | £1.82B | £3.07B | £3.73B |
| Free cash flow | £2.38B | £2.38B | £2.08B | £2.06B | £1.84B |
| Capital expenditure | £890M | £892M | £1.25B | £1.20B | £1.18B |
| Total debt | n/a | £16.7B | £17.8B | £17.0B | £16.9B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diageo DGE.L | $56.3B | +25% | -6% | 29% | 15.2× | -0.9% |
| Pernod Ricard RI.PA | $20.0B | +16% | -14% | 26% | 12.5× | 2.1% |
| Brown–Forman BF-B | $14.2B | +11% | 0% | 29% | 17.9× | -5.1% |
| Constellation Brands STZ | $24.0B | -4% | -4% | 30% | 11.9× | -4.5% |
| Remy Cointreau RCO.PA | $3.08B | +30% | -5% | 16% | 29.2× | 17.0% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | DGE.L | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +16.1% | +11.8% | 4th highest of 14 |
| 6-month return | +25.1% | +9.7% | 3rd highest of 14 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -1.3% | -6.6% | 3rd highest of 14 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | -6.5% | +0.8% | 4th lowest of 14 |
| Operating margin | 28.9% | 25.8% | 5th highest of 14 |
| Forward P/E | 15.2× | 15.9× | 7th cheapest of 14 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -0.9% | 1.8% | 7th least demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +2.8% | +6.9% | 5th lowest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -3.8 pp | -5.7 pp | 6th most demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +5.2 pp | +4.8 pp | 6th highest of 14 |
| EV / EBITDA | 12.2× | 10.9× | 3rd most expensive of 12 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.2× | 3.0× | 5th most indebted of 12 |
| Bond spread | 76 bp | 82 bp | 2nd tightest of 7 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diageo DGE.L | United Kingdom | $56.3B | +25% | -6% | 29% | 15.2× | -0.9% | +2.8% |
| Heineken HEIA.AS | Netherlands | $51.8B | +29% | +1% | 12% | 15.9× | 4.2% | +7.8% |
| Wuliangye Yibin 000858.SZ | China | $43.9B | -22% | -6% | 32% | 22.1× | 7.1% | -9.6% |
| Ambev SA Sponsored ADR ABEV | United States | $43.2B | -15% | +4% | 23% | 14.5× | -5.5% | +6.9% |
| Heineken HEIO.AS | Netherlands | $24.7B | +32% | +1% | 12% | 14.5× | -1.1% | +7.8% |
| Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory 600809.SS | China | $24.1B | -8% | -9% | 36% | 17.1× | 3.0% | +22.7% |
| Constellation Brands STZ | United States | $24.0B | -4% | -4% | 30% | 11.9× | -4.5% | +1.2% |
| Carlsberg AS CARL-A.CO | Denmark | $20.9B | +12% | +10% | 14% | 17.2× | -2.2% | +8.8% |
| Pernod Ricard RI.PA | France | $20.0B | +16% | -14% | 26% | 12.5× | 2.1% | +1.3% |
| Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Sponsored ADR BUD | United States | $168B | +5% | +7% | 26% | 18.9× | 2.7% | +4.7% |
| Luzhou Laojiao 000568.SZ | China | $17.9B | -19% | -38% | 40% | 17.5× | 9.9% | +8.7% |
| Asahi Group Hldgs 2502.T | Japan | $16.4B | +10% | +3% | 9% | 13.1× | 1.8% | +7.4% |
| Kirin 2503.T | Japan | $15.2B | +21% | +6% | 11% | 13.7× | -4.2% | +5.6% |
| Brown–Forman BF-B | United States | $14.2B | +11% | 0% | 29% | 17.9× | -5.1% | +2.7% |
Diageo has 15 bonds outstanding with $10.8B face value. The agencies rate it A-; its bonds trade like AA-. Weighted yield 4.30%, a spread of 76 bp over government bonds.