Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) Stock Today: Share Price Near A$82, Fresh Headlines, and Analyst Forecasts for 23 December 2025

SYDNEY, 23 December 2025 — Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES), the Australian retail heavyweight behind Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Officeworks, is finishing the year in familiar territory: a widely held “defensive” blue chip with a premium valuation that keeps analysts split. On Tuesday, Wesfarmers’ own investor site showed the shares at A$82.17, up 1.48%, as of 3:10pm AEST. ^[1]

That uptick matters because it lands the stock close to where many consensus models place “fair value.” In other words: the market is pricing Wesfarmers as sturdy… and analysts largely agree it’s sturdy… but they argue about how much sturdiness you should pay for.

Wesfarmers share price on 23 December 2025: what the tape is saying

Daily moves rarely tell the whole story, but today’s rise fits the late-December pattern: lighter volumes, positioning into year-end, and investors leaning toward familiar earners when the macro outlook feels noisy.

End-of-day pricing feeds also placed Wesfarmers in the low A$82 range, with Investing.com’s historical table showing A$82.270 for 23 December (with the day’s range roughly A$80.50–A$82.39). ^[2]

MarketScreener’s snapshot similarly showed A$82.17 on 23 December and indicated Wesfarmers was up about 14.87% since 1 January (year-to-date). ^[3]

Is there breaking Wesfarmers news today?

Not in the “price-sensitive ASX announcement” sense.

Wesfarmers’ ASX announcements page shows the latest December items dated 11 December (Tax Contribution Report) and 10/3 December (director interest and equity plan notices), with no new company filing dated 23 December at the time those listings were displayed. ^[4]

So what’s driving attention today? Mostly fresh commentary and ongoing headlines around parts of the portfolio — especially health/pharmacy exposure — rather than a new earnings update.

The most relevant current Wesfarmers headlines investors are tracking

1) Priceline-related disruption: 54 pharmacies placed into administration

A notable late-December headline sits inside the broader Wesfarmers “Health” footprint: more than 50 Priceline-branded pharmacies linked to Infinity Pharmacy Group were placed into administration, with KPMG appointed and stores continuing to trade while the business is assessed. Importantly, reporting also noted hundreds of other Priceline stores were not affected. ^[5]

For Wesfarmers shareholders, this isn’t the same as “Priceline is collapsing.” It’s closer to: a franchise/operator problem has landed on the doorstep of a Wesfarmers-owned brand ecosystem. The market question becomes whether this stays contained (one operator restructure) or signals a broader earnings drag and brand distraction in a segment Wesfarmers has been building out.

2) Capital returns are still fresh in investors’ minds

Wesfarmers has been actively returning capital. The company’s investor material on the 2025 capital management distribution describes a A$1.50 per share distribution made up of a A$1.10 return of capital plus a fully franked A$0.40 special dividend, paid on 4 December 2025. Wesfarmers also put the total distribution at approximately A$1,703 million. ^[6]

For income-focused investors, it’s hard to ignore: this is exactly the kind of shareholder-friendly “big cheque” that keeps WES on retirement and core-portfolio lists — and can also make the stock look expensive versus slower-growing peers.

3) Dividend timeline and franking remain central to the WES story

Wesfarmers’ dividend information page lists recent payments including the special dividend (40 cents, paid 4 December 2025), alongside the final dividend (111 cents, paid 7 October 2025) and interim dividend (95 cents, paid 1 April 2025) — all shown as fully franked in the same table. ^[7]

Dividend mechanics matter for WES because a big slice of its shareholder base values reliability as much as growth. When the stock rises into year-end, “is the yield still worth it?” becomes a constant undercurrent in any valuation debate.

4) Tax transparency update: A$1.6b in taxes and charges (FY2025)

In its 2025 Tax Contribution Report, Wesfarmers reported A$1.6 billion in government taxes and other charges (as presented in the report). ^[8]

This doesn’t directly move a stock day-to-day, but it feeds the longer-term narrative: Wesfarmers is leaning into transparency and governance messaging — themes that increasingly influence institutional demand for large-cap “core holdings.”

Today’s Wesfarmers stock forecasts: price targets cluster in the low A$80s, but the range is wide

Here’s the interesting (and slightly awkward) part for anyone trying to model upside from today’s ~A$82 level: several widely cited consensus datasets point to an average target that is around the current price — sometimes below it.

Investing.com shows a consensus rating of “Sell” based on 13 analysts, with an average 12‑month price target of ~A$80.82, and a high estimate of A$100 versus low estimate of A$58. ^[9]
MarketScreener also displays an average target price of A$80.82, with an “UNDERPERFORM” / Sell-leaning consensus presentation. ^[10]
TradingView lists an analyst price target of A$81.25, with A$100 max and A$63.60 min estimates (and also posts a next-quarter revenue expectation of A$24.39b in its forecast module). ^[11]
Fintel shows a higher average one-year target — A$84.38 — with forecasts ranging from A$71.20 to A$105.00. ^[12]

Put together, these paint a consistent picture: Wesfarmers is not short of admirers, but many models already assume a lot of good news is priced in. The market can keep pushing higher, of course — but consensus math says the stock is no bargain if you’re buying it purely for near-term target upside.

Why analysts can’t agree: Wesfarmers is part retailer, part infrastructure, part options portfolio

Wesfarmers is often treated like a “retail defensive,” but that label hides complexity. In practice, the group blends:

Retail cash engines (Bunnings, Kmart/Target, Officeworks) that can hold up when households trade down
Health/pharmacy exposure that can be resilient but operationally messy
Industrial/chemicals and lithium-adjacent exposure that adds cyclicality and execution risk
A capital allocation track record that includes asset sales and capital returns

That mix is why one analyst can look at the same company and say “steady compounder,” while another says “too expensive for low-to-mid single digit growth.”

Reuters coverage of Wesfarmers’ FY2025 results earlier this year captured the tension: strong retail performance and shareholder returns alongside a warning that cost pressures (labour, energy, supply chain) were expected to persist into FY2026. ^[13]

What to watch next: the next big Wesfarmers catalyst is February

On the company’s key dates calendar, Wesfarmers lists its 2026 half-year results announcement and briefing on 19 February 2026. ^[14]

Between now and then, the market tends to “trade the narrative.” For Wesfarmers, that narrative usually breaks into a few big buckets:

Retail resilience vs margin pressure

Investors will look for signs that Bunnings and Kmart can keep volumes moving without sacrificing margin — especially if wage and energy costs stay sticky.

Pharmacy and health execution

The Priceline administration story is a reminder that health retail is not just “steady demand.” It’s also franchise structures, working capital, and operational churn. ^[15]

Capital management after a major distribution

After paying the A$1.50 per share distribution in early December, investors will listen for what comes next: reinvestment priorities, balance sheet posture, and any appetite for more buybacks or acquisitions. ^[16]

How current commentary frames Wesfarmers on 23 December

Two strands of “today commentary” are worth noting because they align with how Google Discover readers often meet a stock: through the lens of portfolio role rather than granular model tweaks.

Defensive/core holding framing: IG published a defensive-shares roundup today that included Wesfarmers as a diversification anchor via “market-leading retail and healthcare operations,” while also flagging the broader reality that defensive names can still fall in sell-offs. (IG’s table used figures accurate as of 21 November 2025.) ^[17]
Mixed valuation framing: A Motley Fool Australia “buy, hold, sell” style piece published today described Wesfarmers as a mixed picture — strong brands and profits, but with ongoing cost pressures in view. ^[18]

These are not broker notes, but they reflect real market psychology: WES is often bought for sleep-at-night stability — and sold when it gets “too loved” and therefore too expensive.

Bull case vs bear case for Wesfarmers stock heading into 2026

The bull case

Best-in-class retail assets with scale advantages (especially Bunnings)
Trade-down dynamics can actually support Kmart in cost-of-living squeezes
Disciplined capital allocation, demonstrated by a very recent large distribution to shareholders ^[19]
A dividend profile that remains a key support for long-term holders ^[20]

The bear case

Valuation risk: multiple consensus datasets show targets around the current price (or below), suggesting limited “modelled” upside ^[21]
Cost pressure persistence can compress margins even if sales are steady ^[22]
Execution noise in Health, highlighted by the Priceline administration headline, could weigh on sentiment if it broadens beyond one operator ^[23]

Bottom line: Wesfarmers looks strong — and priced like it

As of 23 December 2025, Wesfarmers stock is doing what it often does in December: acting like a high-quality anchor as investors tidy portfolios into year-end. The shares are around A$82, up on the day, and up meaningfully year-to-date depending on the data source snapshot. ^[24]

But the consensus forecast picture is unusually blunt: a lot of analyst target math clusters in the low A$80s, implying that from here, future returns may rely more on dividends and steady compounding than on dramatic re-rating — unless Wesfarmers delivers upside surprises in margins, growth initiatives, or capital management.

The next major checkpoint is 19 February 2026. Until then, the Wesfarmers debate stays elegantly Australian: Is this a wonderful business? (Yes.) Is it a wonderful price? (Depends how badly you want to sleep at night.) ^[25]

References

Telstra (ASX:TLS) Stock News and Forecasts on 23 December 2025: Buyback Updates, Satellite Messaging Expansion, and Analyst Price Targets

Fortescue Ltd (ASX:FMG) Stock Update (23 Dec 2025): Share Price Moves, Iron Ore Signals, Copper Push, and Fresh Forecasts

Lynas Rare Earths Limited Stock Update: ASX 50 Inclusion, Kalgoorlie Power Disruption, and What 2026 Forecasts Say (ASX: LYC)