If you’re looking for the RDS.A stock price today, you’ve probably noticed something frustrating. Your brokerage app might show a "delisted" warning, or maybe the chart just stops dead in early 2022. It’s confusing.
Honestly, the ticker RDS.A is basically a ghost.
Back in January 2022, Royal Dutch Shell did a massive house-cleaning. They ditched the "Royal Dutch" name, moved their headquarters from the Netherlands to London, and collapsed their weird dual-share structure. Before this, you had RDS.A (the Dutch-coded shares) and RDS-B (the UK-coded ones). Now? It’s all just SHEL.
So, if you want the real-time value of what used to be your RDS.A holdings, you need to look at SHEL stock. As of mid-January 2026, SHEL is trading around $73.18 on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster lately, hitting 26-week lows earlier in the month before showing some grit and bouncing back.
Why RDS.A vanished from your screen
The old system was a headache. If you held RDS.A, you were dealing with Dutch withholding taxes on your dividends—usually 15%. If you held the B shares, you didn't. Shell got tired of the administrative nightmare and the "dual-listed" status that made buybacks and acquisitions a total pain.
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By moving to the UK and becoming Shell plc, they unified everything into one single line of shares.
Every single share of RDS.A you owned was automatically swapped 1-to-1 for the new SHEL ticker. You didn't lose money, and you didn't have to fill out any paperwork. It just happened. But because the old ticker symbol technically doesn't exist anymore, search engines and old watchlists still get tripped up by the old "RDS.A" name.
The 2026 Outlook: Is the "New" Shell actually a buy?
The energy sector in 2026 is... complicated. Shell is currently walking a tightrope between being a cash-cow oil major and a "green" energy pioneer.
- The Dividend Situation: Shell just confirmed a forward dividend yield of about 4.00%. For income investors, that’s a solid number. They’ve been hiking it by an average of 13% over the last few years.
- The Buybacks: One of the big reasons they switched to the SHEL ticker was to make share buybacks easier. They’ve been aggressive here, recently announcing buybacks worth over £51 million.
- Wall Street's Take: Most analysts are leaning toward a "Buy" or "Hold." The average price target for SHEL in 2026 is sitting around $82.90. Some optimists think it could clear $90 if oil prices stay stable, while the bears are worried about a dip toward $70 if the global economy cools off too much.
What’s driving the price right now?
It’s not just about how much oil they pump out of the ground anymore.
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A few days ago, Shell hit a bit of a rough patch, with shares dipping to around $70.31 on January 8th. Why? Refining margins. The "Chemicals and Products" segment has been taking a beating, and the company warned that earnings there might be below break-even for the last quarter.
But then, the flip side: gas. Shell’s Integrated Gas division is a monster. When Europe gets a cold snap or global LNG demand spikes, Shell prints money. They also just signed a massive long-term LNG contract with Petrovietnam Gas, which gives them some nice long-term security.
Navigating the "Royal Dutch" confusion
If you're still seeing RDS.A on a platform like Robinhood or Webull, ignore the "Today's Change" percentage if it says 0%. It's a dead link.
You’ve got to search for SHEL.
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Investors often get worried that a ticker change means the company is in trouble. In this case, it was the opposite. It was a strategic move to cut costs and stop paying so much in Dutch taxes. It also made the company more "agile"—a word CEOs love, but in this case, it actually meant they could move money around faster to buy back shares and keep the stock price from cratering during volatile weeks.
Practical steps for RDS.A (SHEL) investors
If you’re holding these shares or thinking about jumping in, here is the ground reality for 2026:
- Update your tickers: Delete RDS.A and RDS.B from your watchlists. Use SHEL for the NYSE or SHEL.L for the London Stock Exchange.
- Watch the February 5th earnings: Shell is scheduled to drop their Q4 2025 results on February 5, 2026. This will be the big "make or break" moment for the stock's performance in the first half of the year.
- Mind the Ex-Dividend dates: If you want that 4% yield, the next ex-dividend date for ADSs is February 20, 2026. You need to own the stock before then to get paid.
- Check the refining margins: Keep an eye on the "Chemicals" segment news. If they can turn that part of the business around, there's a good chance the stock hits that $82 analyst target sooner rather than later.
Shell is no longer the "Royal Dutch" dinosaur it used to be. It’s a leaner, UK-based energy giant that's currently trying to prove it can still reward shareholders while the world slowly moves away from fossil fuels. It's a tricky transition, but for now, the cash flow remains king.
Next Steps for You:
Check your current brokerage statement to ensure your old RDS.A shares have correctly transitioned to SHEL. Then, set a price alert for $71.50—this has historically been a strong support level where the stock tends to bounce back. Finally, mark February 5th on your calendar to review the Q4 earnings report, specifically looking for the "Integrated Gas" profit margins, as this will dictate the stock's momentum for the rest of the spring.