Tesco Shares Slide Despite Solid Q1 Sales Growth as Booker Drags

Tesco (LON: TSCO) shares fell on Thursday after the UK’s largest supermarket delivered its first-quarter trading statement for FY2026/27, with investors seemingly underwhelmed despite broadly positive top-line numbers.

The stock dropped as much as 3%, falling from a previous close of 456.7p to trade around 443.2p, touching an intraday low of 440p.

Group sales for the 13 weeks to 30 May 2026 came in at £16.83 billion, with like-for-like (LFL) growth of just 1.0% at the group level.

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While the UK core business posted a respectable 1.8% LFL rise — supported by a 2.6% gain in food sales and an impressive 8.9% surge in online revenues — it was Booker, the company’s wholesale arm, that drew the most scrutiny. Booker reported a 3.2% LFL decline, impacted by the exit of a lower-margin national account and tough prior-year comparatives boosted by favourable weather.

Republic of Ireland shone, delivering 3.3% LFL growth, while Central Europe edged up 0.8%.

Chief Executive Ken Murphy highlighted strong customer satisfaction improvements, with Net Promoter Score climbing six points year-on-year to 31, alongside the expansion of Aldi Price Match to over 2,000 Express stores and the launch of more than 520 new and improved products.

Full-year guidance was left unchanged, with management continuing to target group adjusted operating profit of £3.0bn–£3.3bn. The £750m share buyback programme remains on track, with £341m repurchased to date.

The market’s muted reaction suggests investors had priced in stronger momentum after a period of gains, leaving Tesco vulnerable to a “sell the news” pullback.