Woolworths shares soar to new multi-year high: Buy, sell or hold?

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares have climbed around another 0.2% to a three-year high of $38.60 on Tuesday morning.

At the time of writing, the shares are up a huge 31% year to date. They’re also around 23% higher than 12 months ago.

It’s been a bumpy ride for the ASX supermarket giant’s shares over the past 12 months, with its share price jumping anywhere between $25.51 and $38.55 a piece. 

While the volatility has continued throughout the first six months of 2026, the shares have been generally trending higher.

The latest dip came about after Woolworths posted its third-quarter sales update in late April. For the 13 weeks to the 5th of April, the supermarket major reported total sales of $18.1 billion, up 4.5% from Q3 in FY25. Its Australian Food sales were up 5.9% year on year to $13.8 billion. 

The company said that underlying trading momentum remained solid, but management noted they have seen “some signs of increased customer caution”.

Investors were spooked and quickly offloaded their shares.

But the stock was quickly considered oversold and undervalued, and investors started buying back in. Over the past five weeks alone, Woolworths shares have rebounded nearly 19%.

Why is everyone snapping up Woolworths shares again?

There hasn’t been any price-sensitive news out of Woolworths since its third-quarter sales result in late April, but the retail giant has hit headlines recently.

Two weeks ago, the AFR reported that Woolworths has outlined plans to offshore hundreds of corporate roles as part of a $400 million office cost reduction push. 

The corporate jobs include staff in financial, human resources, and IT. It comes as part of the company’s plan to simplify operations and reduce costs to maintain its competitive advantage.

A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed the outsourcing but declined to say how many workers would be affected. The corporate office employs almost 10,000 staff.

It looks like investors were pleased with the news. The Woolworths share price ended the day in the green and has climbed higher since.

The update comes on the back of the company’s better-than-expected first-half profit result, an upgraded outlook, and progress on its cost-savings plans.

The question now is, can confidence keep building further?

Are Woolworths shares a buy, sell, or hold now?

Analysts are divided about the outlook for Woolworths shares over the next 12 months.

Market Index data shows that the majority of brokers have a hold rating, but the $35.46 average target price implies a potential 8% downside at the time of writing.

TradingView data shows something very similar. The majority of analysts have a hold rating on the supermarket stock. The average $35.02 target price also implies a 9% downside at the time of writing. Even the maximum $39 target price only implies a minor 1% upside after the latest price rally.

The post Woolworths shares soar to new multi-year high: Buy, sell or hold? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.