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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Danone vs Imperial Brands: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Imperial Brands holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and valuation. Danone does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. The market setup is currently leaning toward Danone, which does not confirm the structural lead. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with Imperial Brands, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the STOXX 600 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-07-05

This is not just a one-metric split: both profitability and valuation materially support the lead. Imperial Brands PLC leads by 24 points on the overall comparison score.

Trajectory Similarity
0.80
Similar
Peer-set rank: #7
within Danone S.A.'s functional peer set

These two companies are linked by measured long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

A solid similarity means the pair shares a clearly comparable long-term financial profile, even if individual dimensions still differ.

Most of the shared profile comes through revenue growth trajectory and margin consistency.

Similarity drivers
revenue growth trajectorymargin consistency
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
BN.PA
Danone S.A.
49
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: STOXX 600
vs
IMB.L
Imperial Brands PLC
73
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: STOXX 600

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: BN.PA vs IMB.L Profitability 35 78 Stability 60 73 Valuation 46 81 Growth 61 53 BN.PA IMB.L
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +43
#2 Valuation +35
#3 Stability +13
#4 Growth +8
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for BN.PA and IMB.L Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer BN.PAIMB.L Relative valuation Structural strength

Imperial Brands PLC looks stronger on relative valuation, while the broader price setup remains mixed.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where BN.PA and IMB.L each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY BN.PA Elevated · near norm 0th 50th 100th 18 pct gap IMB.L Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 95th 77th
Today IMB.L sits in the upper portion of its own 5-year history (77th percentile), while BN.PA sits higher in its own history (95th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, IMB.L is at a historically more favourable entry position than BN.PA. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
Imperial Brands PLC ranks near the top of the group on profitability; Danone S.A. sits in the weaker half.
Valuation
On valuation, the same pattern holds: both are strong, but Imperial Brands PLC still leads clearly.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
BN.PA
35
IMB.L
78
Gap+43in favour of IMB.L

Capital efficiency adds support, with a 9-point ROIC advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Earnings growth also leans toward BN.PA, which keeps the score lead from reading as a full growth sweep.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both profitability and valuation, making it broader than a single-dimension result.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the BN.PA vs IMB.L comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar profitability-and-valuation comparisons

Explore how BN.PA and IMB.L each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.