Procter & Gamble fell short of Wall Street forecasts on the top line in its second quarter on the back of shrinking consumer demand.
The consumer goods company reported second-quarter fiscal-year 2026 net sales of $22.2 billion, an increase of 1 percent versus the prior year. This was a smidge below Wall Street forecasts.
“It’s been a challenging start to the fiscal year with softer consumer markets, aggressive competition, and a dynamic geopolitical landscape,” said Andre Schulten, chief financial officer of P&G.
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“We’ve now completed what we fully expected will be the softest quarter of the fiscal year. We have strong innovation and productivity plans for the back half of the year,” he added. “We continue to invest in creating superior propositions for our consumers and retail partners with relevant innovation, powerful brand campaigns across every touch point and continuously improving in-market execution across all channels and platforms. We are fully activated, it’s working. So we move with confidence into half two of the fiscal year.”
Beauty segment organic sales increased 4 percent versus a year ago. Within that, hair care organic sales rose by midsingle digits; personal care organic sales were up by midsingle digits, and skin care organic sales increased by low single digits.
“Beauty is growing 4 percent, and we have an opportunity to strengthen growth in skin care in the U.S., making strong progress on SK-II outside of the U.S., on Olay outside of the U.S. The new launch of Olay that is just coming out with strong retailer support will accelerate that business. Personal care has momentum and will continue momentum in the U.S. and globally,” said Shailesh Jejurikar, president and chief executive officer during a post earnings call with analysts. “I can continue to go down the list, but I think I’ve given you enough depth to say this is really across the portfolio. It’s the same idea, double down on the consumer, double down on the execution, double down on the quality of the brand campaign.”
Core earnings per share was unchanged at $1.88, slightly above analysts’ estimate of $1.86.