Colgate-Palmolive Lifts Profit Outlook as Sales Rise 4.6% and Margins Widen
Colgate-Palmolive raised its profit and margin outlook for 2026 after third-quarter sales grew 4.6% with gains in every product category, the consumer-goods maker said Friday.
Net sales rose to $5.369 billion from $5.131 billion a year earlier, according to the earnings release filed with an 8-K. Organic sales, which strip out currency moves, acquisitions and divestitures, grew 3.6%, including a 0.2-percentage-point drag from lower private-label pet food sales.
Diluted earnings per share rose 3% to $0.94. Base Business EPS, Colgate's adjusted measure, increased 7% to $0.97 from $0.91.
Margins widen
Gross profit margin improved 80 basis points to 60.2%, and the Base Business gross margin rose 90 basis points to 60.3%. Colgate said gross profit, operating profit, net income, EPS and free cash flow all rose from a year earlier, even as advertising spending increased by double digits again.
Net sales and organic sales grew in all four of Colgate's categories and in four of its five geographic divisions, according to the release. The company said its global toothpaste market share was 41.4% for the year to date and its manual toothbrush share was 33.1%.
Net cash from operations was $2.913 billion for the first nine months of the year.
Outlook
Colgate narrowed its 2026 net sales forecast to growth of 4% to 5%, from 2% to 6% previously, and now expects organic growth broadly in line with its nine-month performance, compared with 1% to 4% before. It also raised its gross margin and Base Business EPS guidance.
"Despite consumer uncertainty and ongoing macroeconomic volatility, our proactive focus on driving growth while building flexibility into our P&L gives us confidence," Chairman, President and CEO Noel Wallace said.
By the numbers
- $5.369 billion: third-quarter net sales, up 4.6%
- 3.6%: organic sales growth
- $0.97: Base Business EPS, up 7%
- 60.2%: GAAP gross margin, up 80 basis points
- 41.4%: global toothpaste market share year to date
- 4% to 5%: new 2026 net sales growth forecast
Sources
- Colgate-Palmolive Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 30, 2026 (accession 0000021665-26-000047)
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