Davy Morning Equity Briefing
May 11, 2026
Grafton Group
Eighth share buyback completed
Grafton has completed its eighth share buyback programme since 2022. This has been facilitated by Grafton’s exceptional financial position and consistently impressive free cash flow generation capabilities. The group will issue a trading update on May 15th. Our forecasts have yet to incorporate the recent attractive acquisitions of Cygnum and Mercaluz, which represent a clearly positive stimulus to earnings momentum.
Economics weekly
US payrolls beat expectations as Q1 corporate earnings soar
Last week’s US nonfarm payrolls for April exceeded expectations, and we note that Q1 corporate earnings have also been exceptionally strong. For the UK, while Labour’s weak local election result was widely expected, the pathway to a change from Sir Keir Starmer’s party leadership remains unclear and Q1 GDP data due this week look set to be reasonably strong. We also expect a gradual moderation in Irish residential property prices and continued growth in employee payrolls (March data for each).
