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CL · Colgate Palmolive Co

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$91.95 -0.98 (-1.05%) At close · Aug 14
Market Cap
$73.30B
Shares
797.17M
All earnings calls

Earnings call · FY2026 Q1

Colgate Palmolive Co Q1 FY2026 Earnings Call

Colgate Palmolive Co Q1 FY2026 Earnings Call

Concluded May 1, 2026 Audio replay
May 1, 2026 37:55 42 turns
Period
FY2026 Q1
Runtime
37:55
Sources
4 artifacts

Executive readout · one minute

What matters this quarter

Colgate-Palmolive reported Q1 2026 net sales up 8.4% and organic sales up 2.9%, with Base Business EPS up 7% to $0.97, though gross margin guidance was lowered to reflect higher raw material and packaging costs and the Strategic Growth and Productivity Program was expanded with cumulative charges raised to $350–$550 million.

Emerging markets volume growth 46 Advertising and innovation investment 34 Pricing and RGM 24 Hill's Pet Nutrition performance 17 Raw material and packaging cost inflation 17 North America turnaround 16

Management tone

Confident

Net tone +62 · moderate hedging

Grounding quotes
  • “We're pleased with how we started the year as we delivered strong top and bottom line growth.”
  • “This encouraging start to the year gives us confidence in our outlook for the balance of the year, though with significant increases in raw material and packaging costs, we have built into our guidance to reduce our expectations for gross margin for the year.”
  • “There is still uncertainty in how the rest of 2026 will play out, where oil will be, what will happen with interest rates, how consumers will respond.”
  • “I hope you share our confidence that we have, the short-term plans in place, and more importantly, investing in the long-term capabilities of the company to continue to drive superior returns in what is obviously a very volatile operating environment.”

Forward guidance

3 guided metrics

Management's latest ranges and targets are included below.

Research coverage

4 live sources

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Revenue $5.32B +8.4% YoY
Diluted EPS $0.80 -5.9% YoY
Gross margin 60.6% -0.2 pp YoY
Net income $646.00M -6.4% YoY

Research materials

Open the source you need; every reader stays inside this workspace.

Key takeaways

What improved, and what deserves a closer read.

Constructive signals

  • Net sales grew 8.4% and organic sales grew 2.9% with volume growth accelerating from Q4, driven by Asia Pacific and emerging markets.
  • Base Business EPS increased 7% to $0.97.
  • Hill's delivered organic growth of 4.8% ex-private label (U.S. +5%), outperforming a roughly flat market, with Prescription Diet posting double-digit growth.
  • Productivity program annual savings target raised to $200–$300 million to fund 2030 strategy investments and consistent dollar-based EPS growth.
  • Grew both volume and pricing in all four categories and four of five divisions excluding private label pet food exit.

Risks & pressure points

  • GAAP EPS decreased 6% to $0.80.
  • Full-year gross margin guidance changed to down year-over-year (previously expected up) due to significant increases in raw material and packaging costs.
  • North America continued to lag on volume/mix, with some interventions still in progress.
  • Productivity program cumulative pre-tax charges increased to $350–$550 million (from $200–$300 million), with substantial cash expenditures expected.
  • Private label pet food exit remains a headwind, expected to be a 20–30 bps negative impact on total company sales in Q2, and Hill's private label is a 260 bps negative.
  • Dry dog category continues to slip, with Hill's growth in that segment not where the company would like.

Key moments

Jump directly to management's words in the synchronized transcript.

“This morning, we announced an update along with annualized savings target of $200 million to $300 million, with the majority of the savings focused in 2027 and 2028. This is not an extension of the program as we still expect the program to be completed by the end of 2028.” Noel Wallace, CEO

Forward guidance

From the 8-K filed May 1, 2026.

Metric Guided
Cumulative pretax charges related to the SGPP
cumulative, once all projects are approved and implemented
$350M – $550M
Cumulative pretax savings
annually, once all projects are approved and implemented
$200M – $300M
Organic sales growth
Full Year 2026
1% – 4%

Quarter detail

How the reported period landed and where the business moved.

Revenue · segments

Oral Personal and Home Care$4.13B +8.9% YoY
Hills Pet Nutrition$1.19B +6.8% YoY

Capital returned

Buybacks
$306.00M
Shares repurchased
3.39M
Dividend / share
$0.53
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