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Ibstock plc (IBST.L)

Basic Materials Out of favour

When you walk past a row of newly built British houses, there is a very good chance the walls were built using bricks made by Ibstock.

£0.93

Is Ibstock plc a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: When you walk past a row of newly built British houses, there is a very good chance the walls were built using bricks made by Ibstock.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-49.3%
52-week range-36% past year
£0.93
Low £0.88High £1.60
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into Ibstock plc
£507-49%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
£367.96M
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
1.44M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
£0.92 – £0.95
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
£0.88 – £1.60
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
93.2
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
3.2%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.86
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.86
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -1% past week · ▼ -36% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

A multi-year property boom ramps up industrial production.

The bear case

Long-term shifts away from traditional brick building methods.

What does Ibstock plc do?

This business is a heavyweight supplier of clay bricks and concrete products, quietly shaping the skyline of British construction and housing. It makes its money by digging up clay, baking it into millions of bricks, and selling them on to housebuilders. The thing to keep a close eye on is the health of the UK property market, since fewer new homes being built directly means fewer bricks being ordered.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on value and income, and weakest on momentum.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 52Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 30Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 11Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 7Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 32
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Deeply established household name in UK construction
  • Solid gross profit margin on manufactured goods
  • Meaningful dividend payout for income seekers
What to watch
  • Quality screens low (30/100)
  • Growth screens low (11/100)
  • Momentum screens low (7/100)
  • Heavy reliance on the cyclical UK housing market
  • Vulnerability to high energy costs needed to run brick kilns

What do Ibstock plc's numbers mean?

P/E
93.2
This sky-high historical price-to-earnings ratio shows that recent profits dropped right down, making each pound of past earnings look very expensive.
Forward P/E
17.1
This looks ahead rather than backward, suggesting investors expect profits to bounce back nicely over the coming year.
Dividend yield
3.2%
This tells you the annual cash payout relative to the share price, offering a modest steady income stream for shareholders.
Gross margin
29.0%
This shows that after paying the direct costs of making the bricks, about 29 pence in every pound is left over to cover running costs and profits.

Does Ibstock plc pay a dividend?

Yes - Ibstock plc currently pays a dividend of about 3.2% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

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What are the scenarios for Ibstock plc?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£1£1£1today · £1▲ Bull · £1• Base · £1▼ Bear · £1in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+10% to +20%UK housing starts pick up faster than expected.
Base
-5% to +5%Construction activity ticks along steadily without major surprises.
Bear
-15% to -25%Interest rates stay high and stall building projects.

What are the pros and cons of Ibstock plc?

4bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case4
  • Deeply established household name in UK construction
  • Solid gross profit margin on manufactured goods
  • Meaningful dividend payout for income seekers
  • Asset backing reflected in a low price-to-book ratio
The catch3
  • Recent revenue growth has dipped into negative territory
  • Very thin net profit margins leave little room for error
  • Weak return on equity shows sluggish profit generation from shareholder funds
Key risks3
  • Heavy reliance on the cyclical UK housing market
  • Vulnerability to high energy costs needed to run brick kilns
  • Potential delays in large-scale national infrastructure projects
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: GBP · flags: earnings_growth · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.