Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) Share Price Today: Latest News, Dividend Update, Analyst Forecasts and 2026 Outlook (12 December 2025)

Updated: 12 December 2025

Meta description (SEO): Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) stock is in focus on 12 December 2025 as investors weigh Kmart product recalls, AI-driven productivity plans, the Mt Holland lithium ramp-up, and shifting analyst price targets.

Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) — the retail-and-industrials heavyweight behind Bunnings, Kmart Group, Officeworks and other businesses — is back in the spotlight heading into year-end trade, with investors balancing near-term retail margins against longer-run growth bets in data, automation and lithium. ^[1]

As of 12 December 2025, Wesfarmers shares were trading around A$80.61, down roughly 0.5% versus the prior close of A$81.02, after moving between A$80.48 and A$81.40 on the day. The stock’s 52-week range sits at A$67.70 to A$95.175. ^[2]

That places WES about 15% below its 52‑week high — a useful reality check for investors who remember how tightly “defensive retail + Bunnings dominance + shareholder returns” can anchor sentiment… until it doesn’t.

Wesfarmers stock snapshot: price, range, market cap and yield

Here are the headline numbers investors are watching on 12 December:

Share price: ~A$80.61
Day range: A$80.48–A$81.40
52-week range: A$67.70–A$95.175
Market capitalisation: ~A$91.66 billion
Dividend yield (listed estimate): ~4.39%
Next earnings date (listed estimate):18 February 2026 ^[3]

Those figures matter because they frame the core question around Wesfarmers stock right now: is the market paying “premium quality” pricing for a business mix that can keep compounding — or is it paying up just as margins normalise?

What’s driving Wesfarmers news flow on 12.12.2025

Several threads are feeding into Wesfarmers sentiment this week — some strategic, some operational, and one very much in the “headline risk” bucket.

1) CEO focus: productivity, competitiveness — and AI at scale

In Australian media on 12 December, Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott argued the country is at a “tipping point” on competitiveness and productivity, highlighting Wesfarmers’ efforts to lift efficiency — including scaling technology and AI initiatives across the business. ^[4]

Why it matters for WES shareholders: in a world of sticky labour, energy and compliance costs, the “quiet superpower” for conglomerates is often executional productivity. Markets tend to reward it only after it shows up repeatedly in margin and service metrics — but they punish companies quickly if costs rise faster than sales.

2) Kmart product recall developments in New Zealand

Wesfarmers’ Kmart brand has faced fresh attention in New Zealand after product safety authorities published recall information related to certain children’s sand products.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) said on 9 December 2025 that further testing identified another coloured sand product requiring recall, pointing to Licensed Sensory Activity Sets (Frozen, Bluey and Paw Patrol) and noting they returned positive results for asbestos. ^[5]

Product Safety New Zealand’s recall notice states the sets were sold at Kmart from 8 October 2025 to 17 November 2025, and that the sand may include asbestos (a prohibited substance in New Zealand). It also notes respirable asbestos was not detected in tested samples and the risk of airborne respirable fibres is considered low unless the sand is mechanically processed (e.g., crushed/pulverised). ^[6]

Why it matters for investors: even where direct financial exposure is limited, recall events can create brand trust costs, operational friction (returns, clean‑up processes, customer remediation), and a lingering “what else is in the supply chain?” question — particularly for value retailers sourcing at global scale.

(Context note: MBIE has also published other recall-related updates in the same product category earlier this month.) ^[7]

3) Lithium optionality: Mt Holland services contract points to ramp-up activity

Wesfarmers’ longer-dated growth narrative includes its participation in an integrated lithium joint venture (through Covalent Lithium), spanning mine/concentrator operations and downstream refining development.

On 10 December 2025, International Mining reported that Iron Mine Contracting had been awarded a 39‑month mining services contract with Covalent Lithium at the Mt Holland operation in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. The report said the contract starts in February 2026, with mobilisation of equipment and 220 employees, to support the ramp-up of production; it also said Covalent operates the Mt Holland mine and concentrator and is commissioning its Kwinana refinery. ^[8]

Why it matters for WES shareholders: lithium is not what most investors buy Wesfarmers for — but it is a meaningful source of optionality that can change group growth optics if commissioning, ramp-up and market pricing align. The flip side is that downstream commissioning and commodity-cycle economics can amplify execution risk versus the steadier retail core.

Tax transparency: Wesfarmers releases 2025 Tax Contribution Report

On the reporting and governance side, Wesfarmers released a 2025 Tax Contribution Report (dated 11 December 2025), outlining tax borne and collected across jurisdictions. ^[9]

A key summary page in the report states Wesfarmers’ global tax contributions were $1.6 billion in the 2025 financial year, with $1.5 billion relating to Australian tax contributions. It breaks Australian taxes “borne” into components including income tax expense ($1,056m) and payroll tax ($326m), and reports total Australian taxes borne of $1,491m for 2025. ^[10]

The same summary shows Australian taxes “collected” (such as net GST and PAYG withholding) totalling $2,698m in 2025, including net GST ($1,684m) and employee PAYG withholding taxes ($1,003m). ^[11]

The report also states that the gross value of international-related party transactions in and out of Australia represented less than 0.7% of revenue in 2025 (FY2024: 0.8%). ^[12]

Why it matters for stock watchers: tax transparency reporting doesn’t typically move the share price day-to-day — but it feeds into social licence, regulatory context, and institutional risk screens (especially for mega-cap portfolios).

Dividend and capital management: what happened in December 2025

One of the biggest mechanical drivers of Wesfarmers trading into year-end has been its capital management initiative, because it affects both cash returns and price adjustment around the ex-date.

Wesfarmers’ investor information page summarises the initiative as a $1.50 per share distribution comprising:

$1.10 per share return of capital, and
$0.40 per share fully franked special dividend ^[13]

The company states shareholders approved the return of capital at the 2025 AGM (30 October 2025), and the distribution was paid on 4 December 2025, with a total distribution amount of approximately $1,703 million. ^[14]

Wesfarmers also published a Shareholder Tax Information Guide confirming the $1.10 per share return of capital was paid on Thursday, 4 December 2025, representing an approximate total payment of $1,249 million. ^[15]

The company’s capital management page lays out the key dates, including the ex date (5 November 2025) and record date (6 November 2025, 4:00pm Perth time). ^[16]

Why it matters now: after large distributions, investors often debate whether the stock should be valued on a “post-return” basis (i.e., adjusting expectations for future shareholder return cadence) — and whether management will redeploy the remaining balance sheet capacity into acquisitions, organic capex, or more returns.

Analyst forecasts and price targets: where expectations sit heading into 2026

Analyst views on Wesfarmers tend to cluster around three debates:

How resilient are Bunnings earnings and margins as housing construction cycles and trade demand move?
How much operating leverage remains in Kmart/Target and Officeworks once cost inflation and IT investments are accounted for?
Whether “non-core” exposures (like lithium) become meaningful value drivers or stay as long-cycle execution risk.

On Investing.com’s compiled figures (as displayed on 12 December 2025), the average 12‑month price target for Wesfarmers is shown at approximately A$80.82, implying only marginal upside from the prevailing price. The same page lists broker target examples including UBS (Hold, targets around A$90–A$92) and JPMorgan (Sell, targets around A$71–A$73), alongside CLSA (Hold). ^[17]

The key takeaway: the market is not priced for easy upside unless Wesfarmers executes better-than-expected on margins, productivity, and growth — or unless macro conditions (consumer demand, construction activity, cost inflation) turn more favourable than consensus assumes.

The Bunnings question: premium valuation needs premium growth

Bunnings is still the gravitational centre of Wesfarmers’ equity story. That also means it is the gravitational centre of valuation arguments.

In recent commentary, The Australian highlighted the tension: Wesfarmers’ share price performance implies a rich valuation, and the debate becomes whether Bunnings earnings growth can accelerate meaningfully above consensus expectations.

For investors, that sets up a practical framework:

If Bunnings can sustain stronger growth (and protect margins) while Kmart and Officeworks stabilise, the premium can look justified.
If retail margins compress and Bunnings growth slows toward the lower end of expectations, the stock can feel “expensive for what it is,” even if the underlying business remains high quality.

What Wesfarmers has said recently about trading conditions

Wesfarmers’ latest major trading colour (outside full-year reporting) came around the AGM period.

In an AGM-related update reported by The Nightly (30 October 2025), Wesfarmers flagged that cost-of-living pressures were still weighing on consumer confidence, noted domestic cost pressures (including supply chain, labour, energy and regulatory costs), and described mixed conditions across divisions. It also noted Officeworks earnings headwinds linked to lower margins and the rollout of a new IT system, as well as softer conditions in Industrial & Safety tied to subdued demand from mining/resources customers. ^[18]

That matters today because it explains why investors are paying close attention to any signal that:

consumer demand is re-accelerating (or not), and
cost inflation is being neutralised through productivity (or not).

Key catalysts to watch next for Wesfarmers stock

Looking forward from 12 December 2025, the next major signposts for Wesfarmers investors are straightforward — and high impact:

Half-year results (Feb 2026): the next major reset point for margin and earnings expectations, with Investing.com listing 18 February 2026 as the next earnings date. ^[19]
Any further product safety developments: particularly around Kmart supply chain controls and remediation processes in response to the recall. ^[20]
Mt Holland / Kwinana commissioning updates: progress, ramp-up timing and cost control remain the swing factors for whether lithium becomes a meaningful contributor to group value (or a patience test). ^[21]
Cost and productivity trajectory: management’s push toward technology and AI-led efficiency gains will be watched closely for measurable outcomes. ^[22]

Bottom line for investors

Wesfarmers enters the end of 2025 with a familiar investment profile — diversified cash-generative retail anchored by Bunnings — but the news cycle shows why “defensive” never means “risk-free.”

Right now, the stock is trading near some compiled consensus valuation views, after a major capital return, while investors digest (1) product recall headlines, (2) productivity/AI ambitions, and (3) lithium ramp-up signals that could matter more in FY26 and beyond. ^[23]

General information only — not financial advice. Markets are chaotic, forecasts are fragile, and even excellent businesses can be mispriced for long stretches.