{"id":1515,"date":"2026-05-04T09:33:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T09:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/?p=1515"},"modified":"2026-05-04T09:33:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T09:33:47","slug":"an-investment-of-4993-in-greggs-shares-made-just-five-days-ago-would-already-be-worth-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/?p=1515","title":{"rendered":"An investment of \u00a34,993 in Greggs shares made just five days ago would already be worth … today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greggs (LSE: GRG) used to be one of the market\u2019s favourite growth stories. Investors loved the FTSE 250 bakery chain, and many made solid gains along the way. But the stock has since lost momentum. Sales growth has slowed, and the share price has fallen from red hot to distinctly cooler. So what changed?<\/p>\n

The Newcastle-based bakery chain was once mocked for serving greasy British comfort food, then celebrated for exactly the same reason. Backed by a smart marketing strategy, Greggs expanded across the UK, moving beyond traditional high streets into shopping centres, railway stations and airports. It even benefited from the cost-of-living crisis, as consumers looked for affordable treats. But as household budgets came under pressure, its rapid sales growth began to ease.<\/p>\n

During its strongest growth years, Greggs\u2019 share price became rather frothy. At one point, the stock traded on a price-to-earnings ratio above 23. Today, the story looks very different. Over the past year, the Greggs share price has fallen 17%, and over five years it is down 33%. The question now is whether the sell-off has gone too far.<\/p>\n

To some extent, I think it has.<\/p>\n

Greggs still delivered record sales in 2025, with revenue rising 6.8% to \u00a32.15bn. That growth was driven largely by expansion, with 121 net new shops added during the year, taking the total to 2,739. Company-managed like-for-like sales also rose 2.4%, helped by later opening hours.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

However, underlying pre-tax profit fell 9.4% to \u00a3172m, while margins slipped from 9.7% to 8.7%. Inflation, higher infrastructure investment and poor weather all played a part. So while sales were strong, profitability came under pressure.<\/p>\n

Even so, the shares now look cheaper. Greggs trades on a P\/E ratio of 12.6, and the trailing dividend yield stands at a respectable 4.55%. On those figures alone, the stock could look like an attractive value opportunity. The board also held the 2025 dividend steady at 69p per share, although that decision was not well received by investors.<\/p>\n

Anyone who bought Greggs shares a week ago hoping to snap up a bargain will be disappointed, though. The stock has fallen another 7% over the past week. That would have reduced a \u00a34,993 investment, after charges, to \u00a34,643 \u2014 a quick loss of \u00a3350.<\/p>\n

That said, no one should buy shares with a short-term horizon. Ideally, investors should be thinking in terms of at least five years, and preferably longer.<\/p>\n

For Greggs to regain strong momentum, it probably needs a meaningful economic recovery that leaves consumers with more money in their pockets. That does not look especially likely right now, with inflation and rising fuel costs continuing to squeeze households. At the same time, Greggs\u2019 own costs may rise further, which could put additional pressure on margins.<\/p>\n

On the positive side, Greggs is still a high-quality business with a strong brand, a solid dividend and a wide presence on UK high streets. The shares may perform well over the long run, but I think the business could face another difficult year or two. For now, I would rather look elsewhere for bargain FTSE 250 opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greggs (LSE: GRG) used to be one of the market\u2019s favourite growth stories. Investors loved the FTSE 250 bakery chain, and many made solid gains along the way. But the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-finance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1518,"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515\/revisions\/1518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tempest-portal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}