Vodafone Group Stock Today: Italy Exit, Share Buybacks and Analyst Upgrades Put VOD Back in the Spotlight

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company (LSE: VOD, NASDAQ: VOD) is suddenly interesting again. After years of being the telecom stock investors loved to complain about, a string of strategic moves and fresh capital returns means Vodafone has re-entered the conversation for global equity investors in December 2025.

Here’s a deep dive into what’s happening with Vodafone stock as of 11 December 2025 – including the latest buyback announcement, the completed sale of Vodafone Italy, recent results, analyst forecasts and key risks to watch.

Vodafone share price and performance snapshot

Vodafone has quietly staged a recovery over the past year. According to recent market data, Vodafone Group PLC has delivered roughly a 38% gain over the last 12 months, with a 52-week trading range between about 62.4 and 96.3 (for the London-listed shares). ^[1]

That move has been driven by three big themes:

A sharper strategic focus on core markets.
The long-trailed reshaping of Vodafone’s European footprint.
The return of substantial cash to shareholders via dividends and buybacks.

Short-term trading remains volatile. Recent data shows a short sale ratio of around 12–13% for the ADRs as of 9 December 2025, with some technical models flashing a “Sell” signal even as fundamental news improves – a classic battleground setup between short-term traders and longer-term value investors. ^[2]

Fresh catalyst #1: Large Vodafone share buyback announced today

On 11 December 2025, Vodafone announced another sizeable step in its capital return programme: the company has repurchased about 12.3 million ordinary shares, executed through Merrill Lynch International, to be held in treasury. ^[3]

Why this matters:

Signal of confidence: Management is effectively saying it believes the stock is undervalued relative to fundamentals.
Earnings per share support: Fewer shares in circulation means any given level of earnings is spread across a smaller base, mechanically supporting EPS.
Follow-through on capital return promises: Investors have long demanded that Vodafone’s asset disposals translate into tangible returns rather than just disappear into capex and “transformation programmes”.

This buyback is widely seen as being funded, at least indirectly, by proceeds from the group’s portfolio reshaping – including the Italian exit.

Fresh catalyst #2: €8 billion sale of Vodafone Italy now completed

Just three days ago, Vodafone announced it has completed the sale of its Italian operations to Swisscom for €8.0 billion in cash. ^[4]

Key points from the deal:

The transaction values Vodafone Italy at an enterprise value of €8 billion.
The sale significantly reshapes Vodafone’s European footprint, reducing exposure to a highly competitive, low-growth market.
Management has flagged a capital return to shareholders as part of the use of proceeds, alongside debt reduction and network investment.

Strategically, this closes a long-running chapter. Analysts have debated for years whether Vodafone was spreading itself too thin across mid-tier European markets. Divesting Italy allows the group to focus on higher-return geographies and on executing its merger strategy in the UK, where it is chasing scale via combination with Three UK.

For shareholders, the crucial test will be:

How much of the €8bn ultimately flows back directly to them (via buybacks and special dividends).
Whether the leaner Vodafone can deliver structurally better growth and margins.

H1 FY26 results: revenue growth up, operating profit down

To understand the investment case today, you have to pair the corporate actions with the underlying numbers.

Vodafone reported Half-Year FY26 results on 11 November 2025, covering the six months to 30 September 2025. ^[5]

Headline takeaways:

Revenue: Up to around €19.6 billion from €18.3 billion a year earlier – a solid top-line increase driven by better performance in core European markets and the consolidation of Three UK.
Service revenue growth: Q2 2025 service revenue grew 5.8%, with Europe returning to growth at around 0.5%, a notable shift after years of stagnation. ^[6]
Adjusted EBITDAaL: Grew year-on-year, indicating underlying operations are improving.
Operating profit: Down about 9% to €2.2 billion, largely due to higher depreciation and amortisation from the Three UK consolidation and lower “other income”. ^[7]
Dividend policy: Management reiterated its commitment to deliver at the upper end of FY26 guidance and announced a planned 2.5% increase in the final FY26 dividend, which is exactly the kind of phrase income-focused investors like to see. ^[8]

If you zoom in on geography, one particularly important bright spot is Germany, Vodafone’s largest market. After a difficult period, the group has returned to growth there, helped by wholesale revenue from new partner 1&1 AG. ^[9]

So the fundamental story is nuanced:

Operationally, things are better than they’ve looked in years, especially on recurring revenue.
Statutory profit is still being dragged around by accounting noise from disposals and mergers.
The balance sheet is being simplified, but investors will want to see clear leverage targets over the next year.

ESG and franchise controversy: a reputational cloud

While investors tend to focus on numbers, Vodafone’s ESG and legal backdrop is not trivial.

In early December, UK media reported on a group of former Vodafone franchisees suing the company, alleging that changes to commissions and business terms left them in severe financial distress and contributed to significant mental-health pressures. ^[10]

Vodafone has denied wrongdoing and framed the disputes as commercial disagreements, but:

The case adds headline risk and could raise questions about how Vodafone manages partners and small businesses.
It lands at a time when ESG ratings matter more than ever. Ironically, Vodafone has been scoring very strongly on ESG frameworks: in 2025, it received an ESG Risk Rating of 11.1 (low risk) from Sustainalytics and an 84/100 score from Refinitiv, placing it near the top of its sector. ^[11]

For now, this looks more like a reputational overhang than a thesis-breaking event, but it’s one more angle analysts will be watching as the litigation progresses.

What are analysts saying about Vodafone stock now?

Analyst sentiment on Vodafone is no longer uniformly gloomy, but it’s far from euphoric.

Rating changes

Barclays upgrade (8 December 2025): Barclays analyst Maurice Patrick upgraded Vodafone from “Equal-Weight” to “Overweight”, signalling improved confidence in the turnaround story. The upgrade did not change the price target but reframes Vodafone as a potential outperformer rather than a mere index-hugger. ^[12]
UBS downgrade (November 2025): By contrast, UBS moved to a more cautious stance earlier in November, illustrating how divided the sell side remains. ^[13]

Price target consensus

Different data providers show slightly different snapshots, but they broadly cluster in the same zone:

One major source shows an average 12-month price target for the ADR around $11–12, with a “Hold” consensus from roughly 15 analysts. ^[14]
Another platform, based on a smaller analyst sample, shows an average 12-month target nearer $10–11, with a more cautious “Sell” consensus. ^[15]

That split is important:

The bullish camp sees a slimmer, more focused Vodafone, benefitting from consolidation in the UK, exiting structurally weak markets like Italy, and using disposals plus disciplined capex to boost shareholder returns.
The bearish camp worries that:
- Telecom remains a grindy, capital-intensive business.
- Regulatory risk and price competition will cap returns.
- Once the Italy cash is fully used, Vodafone might still look like a low-growth income stock, just with fewer geographies.

Technical picture: short-term traders vs long-term investors

From a technical and trading perspective:

The stock’s strong 12-month run has pushed it toward the upper end of its recent trading range.
Some quantitative models now flash “Sell” or “Strong Sell” technical signals, reflecting overbought conditions after the rally rather than a fundamental implosion. ^[16]
Elevated short interest suggests there are still plenty of investors betting that the turnaround will disappoint.

This sets up a classic dynamic:

Long-term investors anchor on cashflows, dividends, and corporate actions like buybacks and disposals.
Short-term traders focus on mean-reversion and macro risk – for example, Europe’s growth outlook and central bank policy.

For anyone looking at Vodafone now, both lenses matter.

Key opportunities for Vodafone from here

Putting it all together, the optimistic case for Vodafone stock in December 2025 rests on a few pillars:

Portfolio simplification and focus
The completed Italy sale and previous deals mean Vodafone is concentrating capital on markets where it can genuinely achieve scale and pricing power, especially in the UK and Germany. ^[17]
Improving revenue trends
Service revenue growth has finally ticked up, with Europe returning to modest growth and group service revenue accelerating. That’s crucial for a company whose biggest problem for years was flat or declining top-line numbers. ^[18]
Capital returns and dividends
Between ordinary dividends, progressive guidance on the FY26 payout, and active share buybacks, Vodafone is starting to look more like a cash-return machine than a perpetually restructuring project. ^[19]
ESG leadership
Strong ESG scores from multiple agencies may prove helpful in the long run, as many institutional investors are constrained by ESG mandates. ^[20]

Key risks investors should keep in mind

Of course, telecom is not suddenly a fairy-tale business. Vodafone still faces meaningful risks:

Regulatory and political pressure
From network access rules to spectrum allocation and merger approvals, regulators have a huge influence on returns. The ongoing scrutiny around UK consolidation and past Italian transactions shows how unpredictable this can be. ^[21]
Reputational/legal overhangs
The franchisee litigation in the UK is one concrete example where social and governance issues can spill into mainstream coverage, potentially affecting brand value and management bandwidth. ^[22]
Execution risk on mergers and integration
The Three UK combination and ongoing network upgrades must deliver the promised synergies – and not just on PowerPoint. Overruns or missed synergy targets would quickly erode investor patience.
Macro and competition
European growth is better than feared but far from spectacular. Aggressive competitors can still pressure ARPU (average revenue per user), especially in mobile and converged bundles.

Bottom line: where does Vodafone stock stand on 11 December 2025?

As of today, Vodafone Group sits at a turning-point narrative:

Near-term news flow is positive:
- Italy sale completed for €8bn. ^[23]
- Fresh share buyback announced today, reinforcing capital return story. ^[24]
- H1 FY26 numbers show revenue growing, even if operating profit is under some accounting pressure. ^[25]
- At least one major bank (Barclays) has shifted to an Overweight view. ^[26]
Valuation and sentiment are in flux:
- The stock has rallied strongly over the past year, but analyst targets still leave room for upside in some scenarios. ^[27]
- Mixed recommendations (from “Sell” to “Overweight”) and notable short interest show that the market is not yet convinced this is a clean turnaround.

In plain language: Vodafone has finally started doing the things investors have begged for – selling weaker assets, focusing its portfolio, and handing back cash. Whether that becomes a sustained re-rating story or just a temporary bounce will depend on how consistently the group can now grow service revenues, control capex, and avoid new strategic detours.