- Consumer shares down on forecasts that weight loss drugs will cut snacking across the US
- Analysts expect a 3 per cent fall in the consumption of sweets, salty snacks and fizzy drinks by 2035
Worries that weight loss drugs could slim down consumer staple sales have sent shares down in recent weeks. Some company bosses are even backing this idea: Walmart (US: WMT) chief executive John Furner didn’t help matters when he told Bloomberg that customers taking appetite-suppressing medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro were buying fewer food items in stores.
Shares in Coca-Cola (US:KO) and PepsiCo (US:PEP) have tumbled 8 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, in the past month as these fears took hold in the market. Procter & Gamble (US:PG) and Unilever (ULVR) fell as much as 6 per cent over the period before recovering half those losses.