PERTH — December 20, 2025 — Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WES) heads into the final stretch of 2025 with its share price sitting close to where many analysts say “fair value” begins and ends — and with fresh, very real-world news in its health division putting that thesis to the test.
Wesfarmers shares last closed at A$81.02 on Friday, December 19, 2025, up about 0.5% on the day. [1] With the ASX shut on Saturday, that Friday close is the reference point investors are using to digest a burst of late‑December headlines — most notably the move to place 54 Priceline‑branded pharmacies operated by Infinity Pharmacy Group into administration/receivership while an assessment and sale process begins. [2]
Below is what’s driving the Wesfarmers narrative as of 20.12.2025, the forecasts analysts are publishing right now, and the key catalysts markets are likely to price next.
Wesfarmers share price today: where the stock is trading as the year ends
Wesfarmers’ last close at A$81.02 (Dec 19) leaves the stock well off its 52‑week high, but still solidly positive for calendar 2025 in many market summaries. [3] One widely cited 52‑week range puts Wesfarmers between roughly A$67.70 and A$95.18. [4]
That range matters because it frames the core debate around WES right now:
- If you believe Wesfarmers is primarily a premium retail compounder (Bunnings + Kmart Group + disciplined capital allocation), you look at dips as opportunities.
- If you believe it is now priced like a premium compounder without enough incremental growth to justify the multiple, you start focusing on execution risk — and on any sign that “defensive retail strength” is being subsidised by weaker parts of the portfolio.
The market is currently getting fresh data on that second point from Wesfarmers Health.
The biggest current news: 54 Priceline pharmacies placed into administration/receivership
The most immediate, stock-relevant Wesfarmers headline around December 18–19, 2025 is the administration of 54 Priceline‑branded pharmacies linked to Infinity Pharmacy Group.
What happened, in plain English:
- Multiple outlets report that 54 Priceline-branded pharmacies were placed into administration/receivership after “years of financial difficulties,” with KPMG appointed as receiver/manager (and administrators also involved, depending on the report). [5]
- The stores are continuing to trade while the business is assessed. [6]
- Importantly for reputational and operational risk, reporting indicates employees are being retained and paid during the process. [7]
- This appears contained to the Infinity‑operated cluster: one report notes more than 400 other Priceline stores are not affected. [8]
A notable detail from pharmacy-industry reporting: Wesfarmers Health’s Chief Customer Officer, Richard Pearson, said the group had worked “tirelessly” with Infinity over years, but that Infinity’s prolonged inability to meet obligations and a worsening debt position led to an “untenable situation.” [9] KPMG’s David Hardy (Turnaround & Restructuring Services Partner and Receiver) also emphasised continuity of operations and flagged an orderly sale process in the new year. [10]
Why this matters to the Wesfarmers investment case
For Wesfarmers shareholders, the key question is not whether 54 stores are existential (they aren’t), but what this episode says about:
- Execution in Wesfarmers Health (a long‑term “adjacent platform” growth pillar), and
- The operating stress level in community pharmacy — which can shift franchisee economics, wholesale volumes, and brand momentum.
On that second point, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (via Australasian Pharmacy) explicitly linked the pressure on pharmacies to rising costs (energy, tax, compliance) and the impact of 60‑day dispensing, arguing pharmacies receive less remuneration for the same service due to the lost dispensing fee on each 60‑day script. [11] The same statement says total script volume declined 1.3% in the financial year compared to FY24, a reversal from an average annual growth rate the Guild says was 2.2% over the prior five years. [12]
That combination — cost inflation plus structural revenue pressure — is exactly the kind of “slow squeeze” that can make a stable-looking retail network suddenly look fragile.
AI and productivity: Wesfarmers’ OpenAI partnership and what it signals for 2026
While the pharmacy story is about triage and restructuring, Wesfarmers has also been pushing a more optimistic, forward-facing narrative: productivity and customer experience improvements through AI.
On November 28, 2025, Wesfarmers released a statement saying it has entered a partnership with OpenAI to make ChatGPT Enterprise available across the group, supported by customised training programs. [13] The release describes current AI use cases including demand forecasting, product design, customer service and experience, marketing effectiveness and “conversational commerce,” and positions the partnership as a tool to support productivity and growth. [14]
Then, on December 4, 2025, OpenAI announced “OpenAI for Australia,” including a skills initiative with CommBank, Coles and Wesfarmers aimed at rolling out AI skills training to more than 1.2 million Australian workers and small businesses. [15] OpenAI said the nationwide rollout of OpenAI Academy courses created with those organisations will begin in 2026. [16]
Why investors should care (even if AI sounds like a buzzword)
Wesfarmers is the kind of conglomerate where small percentage improvements compound loudly:
- Faster inventory turns and better forecasting can mean fewer markdowns.
- Better customer service tools can lift conversion without lifting headcount at the same rate.
- Supply chain optimisation can offset wage, rent, and energy inflation — the exact cost pressures the company itself has repeatedly flagged.
In a paywalled but widely syndicated interview summary from mid‑December, Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott was reported as saying the group has moved beyond “exploratory” AI into implementation at scale, and that Wesfarmers is upskilling its large workforce as part of this push. [17]
For a market currently debating whether Wesfarmers’ valuation already assumes “best-in-class execution,” tangible productivity wins are one of the cleanest ways to argue the multiple is justified.
Dividends and capital returns: what Wesfarmers just paid shareholders
Wesfarmers has also been actively returning capital, which has helped support the stock’s reputation as a shareholder-friendly compounder.
From Wesfarmers’ own capital management information page:
- The board recommended a $1.50 per share capital management initiative made up of a $1.10 return of capital plus a fully franked $0.40 special dividend. [18]
- Shareholders approved the return of capital at the AGM on October 30, 2025. [19]
- The total distribution (about $1,703 million) was paid on December 4, 2025, with a record date of November 6, 2025. [20]
Wesfarmers’ dividend table also lists recent dividend events, including the 40c special dividend paid Dec 4, 2025, the final dividend of 111c paid Oct 7, 2025, and the interim dividend of 95c paid Apr 1, 2025 (all shown as 100% franked). [21]
This matters for forecasts because when a stock is near consensus price targets, total return (price + dividends) becomes the battlefield — not just share price upside.
Forecasts and analyst targets: what the market thinks WES is worth right now
Here’s where the current analyst picture gets unusually tight: multiple consensus trackers show Wesfarmers trading right around the average target.
Consensus target clusters around ~A$81
Investing.com’s consensus page (based on 13 analysts) lists:
- Average 12‑month target: ~A$80.82
- High target:A$100
- Low target:A$58
- Consensus rating: “Sell” (with a split of buy/hold/sell recommendations shown on the page). [22]
MarketScreener shows a very similar snapshot (also 13 analysts), including the same A$80.82 average target and a “UNDERPERFORM” consensus label, with the last close price shown as A$81.02. [23]
Translation: A lot of professional models are effectively saying, “At today’s price, the easy money has already been made.”
Other trackers see modest upside — but still not a screaming bargain
TipRanks, which aggregates a smaller set of ratings in this case, shows:
- Average target:A$84.44
- Highest:A$92.60
- Lowest:A$70.50
- Consensus rating: “Hold.” [24]
And Simply Wall St’s valuation article from December 5, 2025 framed Wesfarmers as trading very close to its narrative fair value estimate — citing a fair value around A$80.82 versus a last close around A$81.16 — while noting that cost inflation and execution risks in health and lithium could squeeze margins. [25]
Technical/quant-style forecasts are mixed
Technical-style services can paint a different short-horizon picture. For example, StockInvest’s automated view (updated Dec 19) notes WES has had controlled daily volatility and flags a mix of buy and sell signals depending on the time horizon, with support and resistance levels around the low A$80s. [26]
These tools are not fundamentals — but they do influence some real-world flows at the margin, especially near year-end when liquidity can thin out.
Fundamentals check: what Wesfarmers earns and where it earns it
Wesfarmers remains, at its core, a cash-generating retail-led conglomerate.
Reuters’ company profile describes operations spanning:
- Bunnings (home improvement and outdoor living),
- Kmart (apparel and general merchandise),
- WesCEF (chemicals, energy and fertilisers),
- Officeworks,
- Industrial and Safety, and
- Wesfarmers Health (pharmaceutical wholesale/retail and wellness). [27]
On the numbers, Reuters’ company financials show for FY2025:
- Revenue:A$45.7 billion
- Net income:A$2.926 billion [28]
On the earnings narrative, Reuters’ reporting on the FY2025 result said Wesfarmers posted net profit of A$2.65 billion for the year ended June 30, 2025 (as reported in that story), with Kmart and Bunnings highlighted as key performers. [29] The same Reuters report quoted an eToro analyst describing Bunnings and Kmart as growth engines as households traded down to value while still spending on home improvement and essentials. [30]
That “trade down” dynamic is central to the bull case: value-led retailers can look surprisingly strong in a cost-of-living squeeze.
Corporate governance update: Wesfarmers introduces a director equity plan
One under-the-radar but investor-relevant update this month: Wesfarmers announced on December 3, 2025 that its board approved the introduction of a Non‑executive Director Equity Plan, allowing participating non-executive directors to acquire Wesfarmers shares by sacrificing pre-tax fees (minimum 20% up to 100%), with disposal restrictions nominated between three and 15 years. [31]
For long-term holders, this is usually read as a governance alignment signal: directors increasing exposure to the same equity risk shareholders carry.
What to watch next: the catalysts that can move WES in early 2026
1) The Priceline / Infinity outcome and sale process
Investors will look for clarity on:
- whether the issue is isolated to Infinity’s balance sheet, or
- whether it reveals broader fragility in pharmacy economics that could slow Wesfarmers Health’s growth trajectory.
The “orderly sale process in the new year” language strongly suggests more headlines are coming. [32]
2) Evidence that AI is translating into measurable margin protection
Wesfarmers has now publicly tied AI deployment to productivity, customer experience and shareholder value. [33] Markets will look for concrete outcomes (less shrink, fewer markdowns, improved service metrics, improved inventory availability) — not just announcements.
3) The next results date: February 19, 2026
Wesfarmers’ investor calendar lists the 2026 half-year results announcement and briefing on 19.02.26. [34] This is the next major scheduled moment where:
- retail trading through the Christmas period will be discussed in a formal setting, and
- the market will press management on cost inflation, consumer demand, and the health/pharmacy situation.
The bottom line for Wesfarmers stock on 20.12.2025
As of December 20, 2025, Wesfarmers stock sits in an unusually “knife-edge” zone: the share price is near multiple consensus targets, which tends to compress easy upside and make the stock more sensitive to execution surprises — good or bad. [35]
The late‑December Priceline pharmacy administration story is a reminder that even high-quality conglomerates can have pockets of stress, particularly in regulated sectors facing structural change. [36] At the same time, Wesfarmers is actively trying to write the next chapter around productivity and customer experience — most visibly through its OpenAI partnership and the broader OpenAI-for-Australia training initiative scheduled to roll into 2026. [37]
For investors and readers tracking Wesfarmers on Google News and Discover, the storyline into early 2026 is clear: can the group keep compounding in retail, contain the health/pharmacy fallout, and turn AI investment into defensible margins — all while already priced near “fair value” on many analyst scorecards? [38]
References
1. stockinvest.us, 2. www.9news.com.au, 3. www.marketscreener.com, 4. www.investing.com, 5. www.9news.com.au, 6. www.9news.com.au, 7. pharmacydaily.com.au, 8. www.9news.com.au, 9. pharmacydaily.com.au, 10. pharmacydaily.com.au, 11. australasianpharmacy.com.au, 12. australasianpharmacy.com.au, 13. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 14. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 15. openai.com, 16. openai.com, 17. www.theaustralian.com.au, 18. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 19. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 20. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 21. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 22. www.investing.com, 23. www.marketscreener.com, 24. www.tipranks.com, 25. simplywall.st, 26. stockinvest.us, 27. www.reuters.com, 28. www.reuters.com, 29. www.reuters.com, 30. www.reuters.com, 31. company-announcements.afr.com, 32. pharmacydaily.com.au, 33. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 34. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 35. www.marketscreener.com, 36. pharmacydaily.com.au, 37. www.wesfarmers.com.au, 38. simplywall.st
