Honestly, if you’d told a retail analyst five years ago that Marks and Spencer would be the "cool kid" of the FTSE 100 in 2026, they probably would have laughed you out of the room. But here we are.
The Marks and Spencer share price has been on a wild ride lately. Just this January, the stock saw a healthy jump, climbing nearly 5% in a single day after the company dropped its Christmas trading update. As of mid-January 2026, we’re looking at a share price hovering around the 353p to 364p mark. It’s a far cry from the dark days when people thought the "Magic of M&S" was officially dead and buried.
Investors are currently wrestling with a weird paradox. On one hand, the food business is absolutely crushing it. On the other, the clothing and home division is still shaking off the cobwebs from a nasty cyberattack that messed with their stock levels last year. It’s a classic "tale of two retailers" happening inside a single company.
What’s Actually Driving the Price?
It’s mostly about the food. M&S Food is no longer just a place where you buy a fancy "Dine In" deal for a Friday night; it’s becoming a "shopping list" destination. In November 2025, M&S hit a massive milestone, snagging a 4% UK grocery market share. That might sound small, but in the cutthroat world of UK supermarkets, it’s huge.
Stuart Machin, the CEO who seems to live and breathe the "positively dissatisfied" mantra, recently reported that food sales were up 6.6% over the 13 weeks leading into Christmas 2025. That’s solid growth by anyone's standards.
But the Marks and Spencer share price isn't just about sausages and Percy Pigs. There’s a lot of "boring" structural stuff happening behind the scenes that actually matters more to your portfolio than a new seasonal sandwich.
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- Store Rotation: They are closing old, "sad" stores and opening shiny new Foodhalls in better locations.
- The Ocado Factor: M&S now consolidates Ocado Retail, and that joint venture saw sales jump over 13% recently.
- Cost Cutting: They’ve upped their cost-saving target to £600 million to fight off the sting of higher National Insurance and business taxes.
The Clothing Headache
If there’s a fly in the ointment, it’s the Fashion, Home & Beauty side. Sales there actually dipped about 2.5% over the festive period. Part of that was the "milder weather"—the classic retail excuse—but a bigger part was the lingering "tail" of that 2025 cyber incident.
When your data and inventory systems get hit, you can’t get the right jeans to the right store at the right time. It’s messy. Machin says they are in the "final phase of recovery," but the market is a "show me, don't tell me" kind of place. Investors want to see those stylish coats moving off the racks at full price, not sitting in a clearance bin.
What the Experts are Saying
Brokerages are currently leaning toward a "Moderate Buy" consensus.
Citigroup recently nudged their price target up to 450p, while others like UBS and JPMorgan remain pretty bullish with "Overweight" or "Buy" ratings.
- The Bulls: They see a company with over £400 million in net funds, no major debt, and a P/E ratio that looks way more attractive than the wider market average.
- The Bears: They worry about the UK consumer. With taxes rising and "fragile confidence," will people keep spending £5 on fancy sourdough?
The technicals are interesting too. The stock has been showing "buy signals" from its moving averages, but the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is sitting around 52. Basically, it’s not "overbought" yet. It’s in a neutral zone, waiting for the next big catalyst.
Why 2026 is the "Show Up" Year
M&S isn't a turnaround story anymore. It's an execution story. They’ve proven they can sell food. Now they have to prove they can consistently win in fashion without relying on heavy discounting.
The company expects profit for the full year to be at least in line with the £468 million they did last year. If they beat that, expect the Marks and Spencer share price to start testing those 400p levels again.
Actionable Insights for Investors
If you're looking at MKS right now, don't just stare at the daily ticker. Retail is a game of margins and momentum.
- Watch the Margins: Keep an eye on "markdown and waste." If M&S can sell more at full price, the stock flies. If they have to have "bigger than usual sales" to clear stock, it's a red flag.
- Check the Market Share: As long as that 4% grocery share keeps ticking upward, the floor for the share price remains pretty solid.
- Mind the Gap: There is a significant gap between the current price (~350p) and analyst targets (~415p+). That 18% "potential upside" is what’s keeping the institutional buyers interested.
Next time you’re in a Foodhall, look at the baskets. Are people buying a full week’s shop or just a treat? That’s the real-time data that eventually hits the bottom line. The "Reshaping M&S" plan is about three years into a five-year journey, and while the easy wins are gone, the "runway to 47p earnings per share" (as Shore Capital puts it) is still very much open.
The retail sector is tough, and the government’s budget hasn't made it any easier with those £50m+ in new tax headwinds. But M&S has spent the last three years getting fit. They’ve got the cash, they’ve got the market share, and for the first time in a generation, they actually have the momentum.