Clorox forecasts annual profit above estimates, beats fourth-quarter profit on lower input costs By Reuters

(Reuters) – Bleach maker Clorox Co forecast annual profit to beat estimates after beating fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, helped by back-to-back price increases in home care products and reduced input costs that improved margins.

Demand for the company’s cleaning products such as floor cleaners and disinfectant sprays improved as consumers prioritized shopping for daily essentials.

Sales volumes in the company’s health and wellness segment, a major revenue contributor, increased 2% compared to a 2% decline last year.

Higher spending on trade promotions and advertising, as well as promotions, helped Clorox gain an edge over lower-priced private label brands that the company lost in recent quarters due to supply chain disruptions caused by the August cyberattack.

For fiscal 2025, the company expects earnings per share of $6.55 to $6.80, beating analysts’ estimates of $6.45 per share, according to LSEG data.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.82 per share in the fourth quarter, beating estimates of $1.56 per share.

Clorox’s results come as Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:) and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:) saw improved sales volumes on steady demand.

The benefits of higher prices over the past quarters, combined with lower manufacturing and logistics costs, cost-cutting initiatives and lower commodity costs, helped Clorox expand its quarterly gross margins by about 380 basis points to 46.5%.

However, the company’s sales declined due to the effects of the sale of its business in Argentina, a recovery in distribution, and a decline in consumption in the home business.

Sales in the company’s home barbecue business fell due to the impact of bad weather — rain around the Memorial Day holiday and extreme heat in June, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Jacobsen told Reuters.

“We lost more than five points of our stock during the cyberattack, and when I look at June, I see that we were down about 3/10th of a percentage, which means we recovered,” Jacobsen added.

Pine-Sol also expects its annual net sales to remain flat or down 2%, which is below analysts’ estimates of a 2.55% increase.

The company reported a larger-than-expected 6% drop in sales to $1.90 billion in the quarter ended June 30, compared with estimates of a 3.37% decline to $1.95 billion.

The company’s shares rose about 3% after the end of trading.