Bernstein analyst Trevor Stirling downgraded Diageo to Market Perform from Outperform, telling investors in a research note that while its share price has had a "great" 12 months and he has seen sustained improvements in the same period, "this is almost as good as it gets." He expects Diageo to announce a significant boost in its buyback program next month with its results and says if the company does dispose of lose-end brands in the U.S., it would increase U.S. top-line growth by about 80bps, making Diageo a net share gainer. He still expects Diageo to deliver 6% organic revenue CAGR over the next five years, with regular substantial repurchases driving 10% five-year EPS CAGR. The analyst raised his price target to GBP28.25 from GBP27.50 to reflect the three-month roll-forward of the valuation base.