Report timing: Friday, July 31, 2026, before market open
Earnings call: 8:30 a.m. ET
Street baseline: consensus appears to be approximately $0.95 adjusted EPS on $5.36 billion of revenue. (tipranks.com)
Colgate enters 2Q with a relatively constructive setup: first-quarter organic growth accelerated sequentially, emerging-market performance was broad-based, Hill’s continued to outgrow its category excluding the private-label exit, and management maintained its full-year sales and adjusted-EPS outlook. The central issue for the quarter is whether those positives are sufficient to offset the cost, tariff, and North American execution pressure that prompted the company to cut its full-year gross-margin outlook in May.
The market will likely focus less on whether CL meets a roughly $0.95 adjusted-EPS consensus and more on three questions:
CL closed July 30 at $91.62. That is about 5.0% above its May 1 close following first-quarter results, though still 3.7% below its July 2 peak of $95.13. This suggests investors have recognized the resilience of the business but remain attentive to the margin and guidance risks.
Colgate’s first quarter was a solid underlying operating result masked by restructuring charges.
| 1Q26 result | Result | Investor read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales growth | +8.4% | Helped materially by FX |
| Organic sales growth | +2.9% | Within the full-year 1%–4% framework |
| Volume | +1.1% | Improved versus late-2025 trends |
| Pricing | +2.2% | Still a meaningful growth contributor |
| Base-business EPS | $0.97, +7% YoY | Above the roughly $0.94 consensus cited by market-data providers |
| Reported EPS | $0.80, -6% YoY | Impacted by Strategic Growth and Productivity Program charges |
| Base-business operating margin | 21.3%, -90 bps YoY | The key pressure point entering 2Q |
Colgate maintained its 2026 outlook for 2%–6% reported sales growth, 1%–4% organic growth, and low- to mid-single-digit base-business EPS growth. However, it changed its gross-margin expectation to a year-over-year decline, versus prior expectations for expansion, while maintaining plans to raise advertising spending in both dollars and as a percentage of sales. (colgatepalmolivecompany.gcs-web.com)
The company demonstrated it can still generate volume growth and EPS growth while investing behind brands. But its ability to do so depends on ongoing revenue-growth management, productivity, mix, and innovation—and not on gross-margin expansion. That makes 2Q commentary on cost recovery and second-half pricing particularly important.
In 1Q, Colgate produced 2.9% organic growth, comprised of 1.1% volume and 2.2% pricing. Management stressed broad-based growth across categories and four of five geographic divisions, with especially encouraging acceleration in Asia-Pacific and emerging markets. (investor.colgatepalmolive.com)
For 2Q, investors should assess:
A result near the midpoint of the organic-growth guide with stable-to-improving volume would be a constructive outcome. A sharp deceleration in volume, particularly in emerging markets, would weaken the case that Colgate can offset inflation while preserving brand investment.
North America was the clear weak spot in 1Q: organic sales declined 2.2%, with volume down 3.2% and pricing up 1.0%. Segment operating profit fell 28%, and operating margin contracted 590 bps to 15.8%. (investor.colgatepalmolive.com)
Management attributed some weakness to delayed shelf resets and later-than-expected new-product shipments, while outlining a recovery plan centered on:
The 2Q report should show whether these interventions began to translate into better shipment trends and share performance. Management had indicated that improvement should emerge sequentially during the year, so another materially negative North American volume result would likely be viewed poorly.
What would be constructive: organic-sales and volume improvement versus 1Q, even if the business remains modestly negative year over year.
What would be concerning: another quarter of roughly -3% volume, with no clear evidence that innovation and shelf-reset timing have improved.
Hill’s reported only 2.1% organic growth in 1Q, but that included a 260-basis-point drag from Colgate’s exit from private-label pet food. Management said core Hill’s organic growth was 4.8%, including 5% growth in the U.S., and expected the private-label headwind to fall to roughly 20–30 bps at the total-company level in 2Q before disappearing in the second half. (investor.colgatepalmolive.com)
This creates a cleaner 2Q comparison. Investors should focus on:
Hill’s is important because it represents roughly 22% of company sales and offers a differentiated, science-led profit pool. A better reported growth rate in 2Q as the private-label headwind moderates would help the consolidated top-line narrative. (investor.colgatepalmolive.com)
Management incorporated roughly $300 million of incremental full-year raw-material and logistics costs into its May outlook. Its assumption was roughly $110 oil for the balance of 2026, with the incremental cost burden described as about two-thirds raw materials and one-third logistics. Resins, petrochemicals, fats and oils were cited as key exposures, while logistics costs were expected to rise nearly 10%. (investor.colgatepalmolive.com)
North America is particularly exposed because it bears most of the tariff impact, and management noted that tariffs and raw materials drove significant year-over-year pressure in the region during 1Q. (investor.colgatepalmolive.com)
The earnings-call focus should be:
Base case: Colgate maintains the full-year framework but leaves gross-margin pressure intact.
Bull case: stable or better commodity/tariff outlook supports an improving second-half margin trajectory.
Bear case: a further gross-margin reset puts adjusted-EPS guidance under scrutiny, even if sales remain solid.
Colgate expanded its Strategic Growth and Productivity Program in 1Q. The company now expects cumulative pretax charges of $350 million–$550 million, up from $200 million–$300 million, and annualized savings of $200 million–$300 million once projects are implemented. The majority of savings are expected in 2027 and 2028; the program remains scheduled for completion by the end of 2028. (colgatepalmolivecompany.gcs-web.com)
This is strategically favorable: it creates capacity to invest in growth capabilities while supporting longer-term earnings. For 2Q, however, investors should avoid treating the program as an immediate margin solution. The nearer-term earnings bridge remains pricing/mix, conventional productivity, and disciplined overhead management.
CL is set up as a resilient but execution-sensitive consumer-staples earnings report. The company’s emerging-market strength, global oral-care leadership, and differentiated Hill’s franchise provide a credible route to organic growth within guidance. Its first-quarter performance also showed management’s willingness to protect advertising and innovation investment rather than defend margins by cutting growth spending.
But the stock’s next move will likely hinge on whether Colgate can demonstrate that North America is recovering and that its May margin reset was sufficiently conservative. A clean report would combine organic growth around the middle-to-upper end of guidance, further volume resilience, improving North America trends, Hill’s acceleration as private-label effects fade, and unchanged EPS guidance. The principal downside risk is not a small quarterly EPS miss; it is another deterioration in the gross-margin or cost outlook that casts doubt on the full-year earnings algorithm.