Colgate-Palmolive (CL)
Consumer Staples · $69.5B market cap · SEC CIK 0000021665
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 30, 2026, before the open, with analysts expecting $0.96 in earnings per share.
The case for CL
- Generated $3.6B of free cash flow in FY2025, 18% of revenue.
- Earns 12% a year on everything it owns (return on assets).
- Gross margin of 60% absorbs cost shocks.
- Moves less than the market (beta 0.33).
- Pays a modest 2.5% dividend.
The case against
- Earnings per share down 28.9%.
- Pricey at 34.1× earnings, against a long-run market average nearer 20×.
- Long-term debt of $6.9B against $1.3B of cash.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Consumer Staples companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 36 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 42 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 70 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 49 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 83 |
- Equity is a sliver of assets, so return on assets stands in for return on equity, and price-to-book and debt-to-equity are left out.
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 36 Consumer Staples companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 34.1× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | n/m (equity a sliver of assets) |
| Price / sales | 3.3× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +5.2% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -28.9% |
| Gross margin | 60% |
| Operating margin | 15% |
| Net margin | 10% |
| Return on assets | 12.1% (ROE not meaningful: equity a sliver of assets) |
| Debt / equity | n/m (equity a sliver of assets) |
| Current ratio | 1.03 |
| Dividend yield | 2.48% |
| Beta | 0.33 |
| 52-week range | $74.55 – $99.33 |
| Position in that range | 50% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -3.6% |
| 1-year return | +6.3% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Colgate-Palmolive's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $20.4B | $20.1B | $19.5B | $18.0B | $17.4B |
| Gross profit | $12.3B | $12.2B | $11.3B | $10.2B | $10.4B |
| Operating income | $3.3B | $4.3B | $4.0B | $2.9B | $3.3B |
| Net income | $2.1B | $2.9B | $2.3B | $1.8B | $2.2B |
| Operating cash flow | $4.2B | $4.1B | $3.7B | $2.6B | $3.3B |
| Capital expenditure | $564M | $561M | $705M | $696M | $567M |
| Total assets | $16.3B | $16.0B | $16.4B | $15.7B | $15.0B |
| Total liabilities | $16.0B | $15.5B | $15.4B | $14.9B | $14.1B |
| Shareholder equity | $54.0M | $212M | $609M | $401M | $609M |
| Cash | $1.3B | $1.1B | $966M | $775M | $832M |
| Long-term debt | $6.9B | $7.3B | $8.2B | $8.7B | $7.2B |
| Free cash flow | $3.6B | $3.5B | $3.0B | $1.9B | $2.8B |
| Gross margin | 60.1% | 60.5% | 58.2% | 57.0% | 59.6% |
| Operating margin | 16.2% | 21.2% | 20.5% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Net margin | 10.5% | 14.4% | 11.8% | 9.9% | 12.4% |
| Diluted shares | 811M | 823M | 829M | 839M | 848M |
Share count is down 4.4% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
What Colgate-Palmolive says it does
Development of the Business Colgate-Palmolive Company (together with its subsidiaries, "we," "us," "our," the "Company" or "Colgate-Palmolive") is a caring, innovative growth company united behind our purpose to reimagine a healthier future for all people, their pets and our planet. To achieve our business and financial objectives and deliver peer-leading performance and total shareholder return, we are focused on driving organic sales growth; delivering consistent, compounded earnings per share growth; achieving operational efficiencies; and driving growth in free cash flow along with the efficient use of our balance sheet. We do this by leveraging the global reach and penetration of our brands; building the incremental benefit of superior, science-based innovation supported by an agile and resilient supply chain; harnessing the power of best-in-class omni-channel demand generation; leading in capabilities such as data, analytics and…
Risk factors CL lists in its 10-K
- We face risks associated with significant international operations, including exposure to foreign currency fluctuations
- Significant competition in our industry could adversely affect our business
- The rapidly changing retail landscape and changing consumer preferences may adversely affect our business
- The growth of our business depends on the successful identification, development and launch of innovative new products
- Damage to our reputation could have an adverse effect on our business
- Our success depends upon our ability to recruit, attract and retain key employees and the succession of senior management
- We have pursued and may continue to pursue acquisitions and divestitures, which could adversely impact our business
- Our business results are impacted by our ability to manage disruptions in our global supply chain and/or key office facilities
- Volatility in material and other costs has in the past and may continue to adversely impact our profitability
- There is no guarantee that our ongoing efforts to reduce costs will be successful
- We may not realize the benefits that we expect from our Strategic Growth and Productivity Program
- A cybersecurity incident, data incident or a failure of key technology systems could adversely impact our business
- Climate change and other sustainability matters could have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations
- Our reliance on third parties in many aspects of our business could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations