Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) posted third-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.91, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89. Shares of the consumer goods leader rose about 1% in early trading after the announcement.
Quarterly revenue reached $5.13 billion, matching analyst projections and marking a 2% increase year-over-year. However, organic sales growth slowed to just 0.4%, weighed down by a 0.8% negative impact from Colgate’s decision to exit private-label pet sales.
The company continued to dominate the global oral care market, holding a 41.2% share in toothpaste and 32.4% in manual toothbrushes year to date. Despite maintaining its leadership position, Colgate-Palmolive cut its full-year organic sales growth forecast to 1–2%, down from 2–4%, citing slower category expansion across multiple regions.
The company’s gross profit margin declined by 190 basis points to 59.4% on a base business basis compared to the prior year, while operating profit slipped 2% to $1.06 billion.
Regionally, Europe led performance with 7.6% net sales growth, whereas Asia Pacific sales fell 1.5%. The Hill’s Pet Nutrition division, which represents 22% of company revenue, reported a 1.4% increase in total sales but a 1.3% decline in organic growth.
Colgate-Palmolive reaffirmed its full-year earnings per share growth outlook in the low single digits and said gross margins are expected to remain roughly in line with the year-to-date average of 60.1%.
“As we transition to our new 2030 strategy and deploy our previously announced Strategic Growth and Productivity Program, we are well positioned to reaccelerate growth despite uncertainty in global markets,” Wallace added.