UBS Lifts BP Shares to Buy, Sees ‘Critical Turning Point’

UBS has upgraded BP (LON: BP.) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to 700 pence from 650 pence, arguing that new Chief Executive Meg O’Neill takes over at a pivotal moment for the UK oil major after years of underperformance relative to peers.

Analyst Joshua Stone said a higher-for-longer oil price environment is “undoubtedly positive for the stock” and that UBS sees “plenty of catalysts in 2026,” while acknowledging that work remains to rebuild investor confidence and reverse the underperformance that has dogged BP since 2018.

O’Neill formally took the helm on April 1, replacing Murray Auchincloss, who was ousted last year by Chairman Albert Manifold amid frustration that the company’s transformation was not moving quickly enough.

Bloomberg recently reported that O’Neill used her first internal all-staff call to signal a return to a traditional upstream-downstream structure, consolidating the company into an exploration and production division and a refining division, though leadership of the two units has yet to be announced.

Her mandate is to streamline BP, accelerate oil and gas production growth and divest low-return clean energy assets, a sharper pivot toward hydrocarbons than the strategy pursued under her predecessor.

BP shares fell 0.5% on Wednesday but remain up 30.1% year-to-date.

According to data compiled by TradingView, the analyst consensus price target for BP shares is 588.8p, suggesting a potential 4.75% upside from Wednesday’s close.