AMSTERDAM, Feb 10, 2026, 16:10 CET — Regular session
- Philips shares jump in Amsterdam after results and a firmer margin outlook
- Group guides for 2026 adjusted EBITA margin of 12.5%-13.0% and free cash flow of 1.3-1.5 billion euros
- New 2026-2028 targets put mid-single-digit sales growth and mid-teens margins back in focus
Koninklijke Philips N.V. shares jumped on Tuesday after the Dutch health technology group laid out a profit-margin lift for 2026 and set new targets through 2028, even as it pencilled in softer sales growth.
The stock move matters because Philips has leaned on margin repair and cash generation as investors weigh the durability of its turnaround. Growth is still sensitive to hospital spending cycles, and costs tied to trade policy have become harder to shrug off.
At the same time, management is trying to shift the conversation toward its longer-term plan. Tuesday’s price action suggests the market is rewarding anything that looks like steadier execution and fewer surprises.
Philips shares were up 11.5% at 27.50 euros at 16:10 CET, after trading as high as 27.50 and as low as 26.04. The stock closed at 24.67 euros on Monday. 1
Philips said it expects comparable sales growth of 3%-4.5% in 2026. Comparable growth strips out currency swings and changes in the business perimeter. It also guided for an adjusted EBITA margin — operating profit before interest, taxes and amortisation, excluding one-offs — of 12.5%-13.0%, and free cash flow of 1.3-1.5 billion euros, a measure of cash left after investments. Philips proposed a 2025 dividend of 0.85 euro per share, and said it delivered its three-year, 2.5 billion-euro productivity program. 2
The company’s margin forecast came in above what investors had been braced for, after months of focus on tariff pressure and weak demand in China. “Confirmation that Philips moves into right direction,” analysts at Kepler Cheuvreux wrote, while J.P. Morgan said the margin guidance was above market expectations. Chief executive Roy Jakobs pointed to Philips’ access to healthcare data as a competitive edge, saying: “We don’t need to acquire data. We work together with customers on data.” 3
In a filing, Philips said its supervisory board will ask shareholders to re-appoint Jakobs as CEO at the annual general meeting on May 8, 2026. Feike Sijbesma, chairman of the supervisory board, said Jakobs has shown “clear leadership” and “strong execution” as Philips pushed through its productivity plan and worked through the fallout from the Respironics recall. 4
But the path is still narrow. Philips’ 2026 outlook includes “currently known tariffs” and excludes ongoing Respironics-related proceedings, including a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. Any shift there — or a longer slump in Chinese hospital spending — could hit margins and cash flow.
Philips sells hospital equipment and monitoring systems as well as consumer health products, putting it in direct competition with bigger imaging and med-tech names. The read-through for the sector is simple: investors are paying up for proof that margins can rise even when growth is choppy.
Investors now turn to details from Philips’ Capital Markets Day, scheduled to run until 16:00 GMT on Tuesday, for how management plans to hit its 2026-2028 goals and how much it expects to spend to get there. 5
