How Unilever (LSE: ULVR) has declined since the split of its ice cream business? Newly created Magnum ice cream company (LSE: MICC) was spun off in December 2025, with existing shareholders receiving one Magnum share for every five shares of the consumer goods giant.

Result? For the most part, business as usual. Unilever shares rose 3% – lagging behind FTSE100which means an augment of 5% over the same period.

The Magnum Ice Cream Company (listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, but listed on the stock exchange London Stock Exchange and New York) is handling it easily after its recent augment of about 13%.

Is this a signal that the split was a good move for the ice cream brand? Is this a good opportunity to take up shares in a newly emerging business? Let’s explore.

Icy stuff

On the surface, Magnum Ice Cream has one of the most valued features of any business – a wide economic moat. Its main brand is Magnum he is joined by other bright day massive hitters such as Croissant, Ben and Jerry AND Walls. These are brands that many people do not like to replace with inexpensive fakes.

Such a great competitive advantage would usually be enough for me to investigate the stock in detail. However, the effects of inflation make me think. Chocolate is one of the biggest culprits of the current inflation crisis (along with coffee and beef).

Deteriorating crop yields (which many attribute to climate change) combined with rising demand in developing countries have driven up chocolate prices. This resulted in problems such as Toffee chips AND Blue ribbons they are no longer labeled as chocolate because the novel recipes don’t include enough of the brown ingredient.

Since I see the potential for this trend to continue, I will not be considering this stock as a stock to buy at this time.

Cost of living

So what about Unilever? The £104 billion market capitalization group boasts a number of well-known brands. Indeed, the company is building its business around “Power Brands” – its own title for names such as Pigeon, Hellmann AND Petrolatum, basic pillars of the company’s operations.

It’s demanding not to ignore the twin threats of the cost of living crisis and high inflation here as well. As consumers’ wallets become increasingly tight, Unilever’s share price is struggling. It is roughly at the level of five years ago, while the FTSE 100 index is up 51%. This suggests that the pricing power of these Power Brands is not powerful enough to deter shoppers from choosing supermarket own brands.

It is true that stagnant stock prices can be an opportunity to buy cheaply. Looking at the valuation, however, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22 doesn’t look like bargain territory to me. So, while I acknowledge there is a lot of opportunity here to turn things around, I will focus on the many other opportunities available on the market in 2026.