Colgate-Palmolive Beats Q3 Earnings Amid Market Share Gain, Margin Expansion, Raises 2024 Outlook – Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company CL reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 91 cents, beating street view by 89 cents. Quarterly sales of $5.033 billion (+2.4%) beat the Street view of $5.003 billion, driven by a “healthy” balance of volume growth and higher prices.

Colgate said in a press release that for the sixth consecutive quarter, the company achieved gross margin expansion while seeing increases in operating profit, net income and earnings per share.

GAAP gross profit margin increased 260 basis points to 61.1%, while core business gross profit margin increased 270 basis points to 61.3%.

Geographically, sales were up 8% in Europe, 6.3% in Asia Pacific and 4.8% in Africa/Eurasia, with Hill’s also up 6.3%. However, Latin America and North America saw declines, with sales down 3.2% and 2.1%, respectively.

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In the quarter under review, Colgate maintained its strength in oral care, boasting a global market share of 41.6% in toothpaste and 32.3% in manual toothbrushes year-to-date.

“Advertising grew 16% in the quarter on the back of science-based innovation, core and premium across price tiers,” said Noel Wallace, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“We expect strong advertising investment to continue throughout the rest of the year as we focus on building the health of the brand and expanding the capabilities needed to drive growth,” Wallace added.

Outlook: Colgate now anticipates net sales growth of 3% to 5% for 2024, up from its previous forecast of 2% to 5%, and expects organic sales growth of 7% to 8%, an increase from the previous range of 6% to 8%.

On a non-GAAP (Core Business) basis, the company continues to anticipate gross margin expansion and increased advertising investment, and now expects earnings per share growth of 10% to 11%, up from the previous range of 8% to 11%. %.

Price action: Shares of CL traded down 0.86% to $98.88 in pre-trade, last checked on Friday.

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

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