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what it is
Colgate sells toothpaste, soap, cleaners, and pet food to households around the world.
how it gets paid
Last year Colgate-Palmolive made $20.4B in revenue. Emerging markets was the main engine at $9.2B, or 45% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 1.4% last year. The filing showed $0.95 versus $0.93 expected. EDGAR also lists $15.2B of revenue and a 60.1% gross margin.
what just happened
Last quarter beat by 2.15%, but the revenue snapshot is messy.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
65/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
26.4x trailing p/e — priced about right
2.3% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
41.0% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 75/100 — average
What they do
Colgate sells toothpaste, soap, cleaners, and pet food to households around the world.
Colgate sells basics people keep rebuying. 74% of sales come from outside North America, while 45% come from emerging markets. That means your toothpaste habit in Ohio is only one slice of a much bigger global refill machine. Beta → how much the stock wiggles versus the market → 0.6 means you usually get a calmer ride.
How they make money
$20.4B
annual revenue · their business grew +1.4% last year
North America
$5.3B
Emerging markets
$9.2B
Developed markets ex North America
$5.9B
The products that matter
oral, personal and home care products
Oral, Personal & Home Care
$10.2B revenue · about half of sales
it's a $10.2B segment backed by 40% global toothpaste share. this is still the front door of the business.
40% share
science-led pet nutrition
Hill's Pet Nutrition
$7.1B revenue · 35% of sales
hill's generated $7.1B last year. when more than one-third of revenue comes from pet food, this is not a side business.
35% of sales
cash return to shareholders
Dividend
2.3% yield · steady payout
the 2.3% dividend yield is part of the pitch. you are buying durability and cash return, not hypergrowth.
income piece
Key numbers
41.0%
ROIC
For every dollar you put into the business, Colgate turns 41 cents into operating return. That is a clean spread in a dirty-looking aisle.
26.4x
P/E
You are paying 26.4 times trailing earnings for a company with 1.4% annual revenue growth. Quality is cheap only when you say it fast.
2.3%
yield
You get 2.3% in cash while you wait. That cushions the stock, but it does not make 26.4x cheap.
$20.4B
revenue
This is a $20.4B business, yet it still grew only 1.4% last year. Size beats speed here.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 1 — safer than 95% of stocks
- price stability 100 / 100
- long-term debt $6.9B (8% of capital)
- net profit margin 17.0% — keeps 17 cents of every dollar in revenue
A with balance sheet grade and risk rank standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in CL 3 years ago → it's now worth $14,150.
The index would have given you $14,540.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Last quarter beat by 2.15%, but the revenue snapshot is messy.
The filing showed $0.95 versus $0.93 expected. EDGAR also lists $15.2B of revenue and a 60.1% gross margin, while consensus says trailing EPS was $3.64 on $20.4B of TTM revenue. The clean read is that earnings beat by a hair, and sales data are getting noisy.
$15.2B
revenue
$0.95
eps
60.1%
gross margin
the number that mattered
0.95 EPS beat 0.93 by 2.15%. That is small, but it is the only clean surprise in the report.
-
colgate-palmolive registered good results last year.
-
earnings per share increased 5% in 2025 from the year-ago figure, despite challenging operating conditions.
-
note: the company recorded a large asset impairment charge associated with the skin health business.including these factors, colgate registered a loss of $0.05 per share in the fourth quarter, and a profit of $2.63 for the full year.
-
the top line advanced nearly 6%, driven by strength in the company’s oral care and pet nutrition divisions.
-
organic sales, which exclude foreign currency effects and the impact of its recent exit from the private-label pet food business, increased 2% last year.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top threat is private-label trade-down in oral care.
high
private label gets louder
when consumers trade down, the pressure lands first on the $10.2B oral, personal and home care business. brand loyalty matters until price matters more.
this threatens the segment tied to colgate's 40% toothpaste share.
med
commodity and packaging inflation
resins, chemicals, and packaging costs can squeeze a business that keeps 14.5 cents of every sales dollar. staples are stable until input costs move faster than pricing.
margin pressure matters more here because sales only grew 1.4% last year.
low
another cleanup charge
the skin health impairment already turned fourth-quarter reported results into a $0.05 per-share loss. if more portfolio cleanup shows up, "defensive" starts looking less clean.
even one-off charges can disrupt the premium valuation story.
a trade-down cycle or cost spike would pressure the 14.5% net margin on $20.4B of sales. that is the part of the story you actually need to watch.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
trend
whether 1.4% growth is the floor or the ceiling
CL can justify a premium multiple if growth re-accelerates. if low-single-digit growth is all you get, valuation does more of the work.
metric
the 14.5% net margin
this is the cushion. if input costs rise and pricing power fades, the stock loses part of its premium argument.
risk
any crack in the 40% toothpaste share
that share is the moat in one number. if it starts slipping, the entire stability narrative gets weaker.
calendar
the next earnings print after the impairment
you want to see a clean quarter. another accounting or portfolio surprise would matter more than a modest sales beat.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — the stock is moving with the broader market. in human-speak, analysts do not see a strong near-term edge either way.
risk profile
safest 5%
stability score 1 means lower downside volatility than almost any stock. this is what defensive looks like in the data.
chart momentum
bottom 5%
technical score 5 is the lowest rating. the business is steady, but the tape has been weak.
earnings predictability
65 / 100
that is decent, not pristine. you should expect a stable company with the occasional messy quarter.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 3 consecutive quarters — 635 buyers vs. 739 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.7B shares. net selling for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$82
$133
$97
current price
$108
target midpoint · +11% from current · 3-5yr high: $150 (+55% · 13% ann'l return)
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