CL Earnings Predictions — 2026-07-31

Ticker Report or Guide KPI Prediction Answer Confidence
CL Report Organic Sales Growth (Q2 2026, total company) BEAT pred ~3.2% vs. cons ~2.5% MEDIUM
CL Report Base Business EPS (Q2 2026) BEAT pred ~$0.97 vs. cons $0.95 MEDIUM
CL Report Gross Margin (Q2 2026, % of sales) MISS pred ~59.7% vs. cons ~60.1% (implied, ~-90bps y/y vs. Street modeling ~-50bps) MEDIUM
CL Guide FY2026 Organic Sales Growth guidance range UNCHANGED guide ~1-4% (midpoint ~2.5%) vs. cons ~2.5% (FY2026) MEDIUM
CL Guide FY2026 Gross Margin guidance (directional, y/y bps) LOWER guide ~-40 to -60bps vs. cons ~-20 to -30bps (FY2026) MEDIUM
CL Guide FY2026 Base Business EPS growth guidance UNCHANGED guide ~low-to-mid single digit (~3%) vs. cons ~3.5% (FY2026) LOW
CL Guide North America organic sales trajectory (commentary, sequential improvement claim) BETTER guide ~modest sequential improvement (implying roughly -0.5% to flat organic) vs. cons expectation of another ~-2% decline (Q3 2026) LOW
CL Return Day-1 residual (stock − beta × S&P 500) -0.7% MEDIUM
CL Return 5-day cumulative residual -1.8% (FADE) CL trades near 52-week highs at a ~23-25x premium multiple pricing in flawless execution; even a modest organic/EPS beat is likely to be overshadowed by continued gross-margin deterioration (oil-linked input costs and tariffs) and lingering North America softness. Sell-side models will need to trim FY margin/EPS estimates for H2 even if headline Q2 beats, causing initial pop (if any) to fade as analysts publish lowered out-quarter numbers over the following days. MEDIUM