Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) reports third-quarter 2026 results on Friday, October 30, 2026, with the earnings webcast at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. In July the company raised its full-year outlook for Base Business EPS to mid-single-digit growth and said it now expects gross margin to be roughly flat rather than down. This preview lines up the recent quarters against the same quarters a year earlier, works out what the guidance leaves for the second half, and covers analyst consensus, the dividend and what to watch.
The recent quarters, each against the same quarter a year earlier
| Metric | Q3 2025 (vs Q3 2024) | Q4 2025 (vs Q4 2024) | Q1 2026 (vs Q1 2025) | Q2 2026 (vs Q2 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $5,131 million (+2.0% from $5,033 million) | $5,230 million (+5.8% from $4,944 million) | $5,324 million (+8.4% from $4,911 million) | $5,361 million (+4.9% from $5,110 million) |
| Organic sales growth | +0.4% | +2.2% | +2.9% | +2.4% |
| Pricing | +2.3% | +2.7% | +2.2% | +1.6% |
| Foreign exchange | +1.2% | +3.1% | +5.1% | +2.4% |
| Base Business EPS | $0.91 (flat from $0.91) | $0.95 (+4% from $0.91) | $0.97 (+7% from $0.91) | $0.99 (+8% from $0.92) |
| GAAP EPS | $0.91 (from $0.90: +1%) | -$0.05 (from $0.90) | $0.80 (from $0.85: -6%) | $0.86 (from $0.91: -5%) |
| Gross margin (GAAP; Base Business is the same in each quarter shown) | 59.4% (from 61.1%) | 60.2% (from 60.3%) | 60.6% (from 60.8%) | 61.5% (from 60.1%) |
Sources: the four Colgate-Palmolive earnings releases listed under Sources (October 31, 2025; January 30, May 1 and July 31, 2026). Percentage changes are as stated by the company (EPS percentages are rounded). Base Business EPS excludes items the company separates from its ongoing results. In Q4 2025 GAAP EPS was negative because of goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges, which pulled full-year 2025 GAAP EPS down 25% to $2.63 while Base Business EPS rose 3% to $3.69. In Q1 and Q2 2026, GAAP EPS fell while Base Business EPS rose; the reconciliations are in the releases. In Q3 2025 the two measures were the same, $0.91, so the year-ago comparison for Q3 2026 does not depend on which one a source uses.
The Q2 2026 release also gave the breakdown by division. Organic sales growth was -3.0% in North America, +5.3% in Latin America, +2.0% in Europe, Middle East and Africa, +5.2% in Asia Pacific and +2.1% in Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
Full-year guidance: three updates, same metrics
| Metric (full year 2026) | January 30, 2026 | May 1, 2026 | July 31, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net sales | +2% to +6%, including a low-single-digit positive FX impact | unchanged | unchanged |
| Organic sales growth | +1% to +4% | unchanged | unchanged |
| Gross margin (GAAP and Base Business) | expansion | now expected to be down | roughly flat |
| Advertising | up in dollars and as a percentage of net sales | unchanged | unchanged |
| GAAP EPS | double-digit growth | unchanged | unchanged |
| Base Business EPS | low- to mid-single-digit growth | unchanged | mid-single-digit growth |
Sources: the Colgate-Palmolive releases of January 30, May 1 and July 31, 2026. The company bases its outlook on spot exchange rates and the tariffs in place at the time; it does not publish a numerical range for Base Business EPS growth.
What the guidance implies for the second half (my illustration)
The company says “mid-single-digit” without defining it. To show what it could mean, the table below reads it as +4% to +6%. That reading is mine, not the company’s.
| Item | Base Business EPS |
|---|---|
| Full year 2025 (company) | $3.69 |
| First half 2025 (Q1 $0.91 + Q2 $0.92) | $1.83 |
| Second half 2025 (Q3 $0.91 + Q4 $0.95) | $1.86 |
| First half 2026 (Q1 $0.97 + Q2 $0.99) | $1.96 (+7.1% vs first half 2025) |
| Full year 2026 if growth is +4% to +6% (illustrative) | $3.84 to $3.91 |
| Implied second half 2026 | $1.88 to $1.95 |
| Implied growth, second half 2026 vs second half 2025 | +1% to +5% |
On that reading, the first half grew faster than the full-year outlook, so the second half would grow more slowly, in line with a consensus of roughly +1% for Q3. These are my own calculations from company figures; they are not a company forecast.
What analysts expect, and the share price
This section uses third-party data, which is not from the company; each figure carries its source and date. Consensus is for the same quarter, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
| Q3 metric | Consensus for Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 actual (company) | Change (my calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS (adjusted) | $0.92 (Zacks, retrieved October 28, 2026; Barchart, October 15, 2026); $0.926 (MarketBeat, October 23, 2026) | $0.91 | +1.1% to +1.8% |
| Net sales | $5.33 billion (Zacks); $5.34 billion (MarketBeat, October 23) | $5,131 million | +3.9% to +4.1% |
Zacks notes that the last reported quarter beat its consensus by 4.2% and that the EPS consensus has been stable over the past 30 days. A consensus of about +1% for EPS sits well below the +7% and +8% of the last two quarters, and I did not find an explanation for the gap in the sources I reviewed.
CL closed at $92.17 on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, down 1.00% on the day, within a 52-week range of $74.54 to $99.33 (source: Google Finance, October 27 close). MarketBeat’s October 23 article gave an opening price of $97.44, so the shares are about 5% lower than in that article (my calculation, comparing an open with a close). Using the October 27 close (my calculation):
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Share price (close, October 27, 2026) | $92.17 |
| Base Business EPS, last four reported quarters (Q3 2025 $0.91, Q4 $0.95, Q1 2026 $0.97, Q2 $0.99) | $3.82 |
| Price to those four quarters of Base Business EPS | about 24.1x |
| Quarterly dividend of $0.53, $2.12 a year | yield about 2.3% on the price above |
| Annual dividend as a share of the same Base Business EPS | about 55% |
Price and consensus move daily, so check both with your broker before the release. MarketBeat shows a payout ratio of 84.13%, which is calculated on a different earnings basis than the Base Business EPS used here.
What to watch on October 30
- Organic sales growth and volume. The year-earlier quarter was weak: +0.4% organic growth and -1.9% organic volume. Q2 2026 was +2.4% and +0.8%, with North America at -3.0%.
- Gross margin against 59.4%. That was the lowest of the last four quarters, against 61.5% in Q2 2026. The first half of 2026 was 61.0% against 60.4% a year earlier, yet the company expects the full year to be roughly flat, which I read as a lower second-half margin than a year earlier.
- Advertising. It was $674 million in Q3 2025 (-2.9% from $694 million, my calculation) and rose 14.6% in Q2 2026. The company expects it to rise in dollars and as a share of sales for the full year.
- Foreign exchange. Currency added 5.1% to net sales in Q1 and 2.4% in Q2; the full-year outlook assumes a low-single-digit positive effect.
- The outlook. Base Business EPS guidance was changed in July; any change at this release would update the second-half arithmetic above.
- Cash returns. In the first half, free cash flow before dividends was $1,476 million against $1,252 million (+17.9%, my calculation), dividends paid were $879 million and share repurchases $597 million.
The dividend
On September 17, 2026, Colgate-Palmolive declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share ($2.12 a year), the same as the previous quarter. The record date was October 20, 2026 (MarketBeat and Google Finance show the same date as the ex-dividend date) and it is payable on November 13, 2026, so buying shares now does not earn this payment. The company says it has paid uninterrupted dividends since 1895.
For investors in Europe
- CL pays in U.S. dollars, and U.S. withholding tax applies by default; the rate for non-U.S. investors depends on your broker having a valid Form W-8BEN. See our W-8BEN guide.
- The dollar and euro exchange rate moves the euro value of the dividend independently of anything Colgate-Palmolive reports.
Sources
- Colgate-Palmolive: Q3 2026 earnings webcast notice (Business Wire, October 16, 2026)
- Colgate-Palmolive: Q3 2025 results (October 31, 2025)
- Colgate-Palmolive: Q4 and full-year 2025 results and 2026 outlook (January 30, 2026)
- Colgate-Palmolive: Q1 2026 results (May 1, 2026)
- Colgate-Palmolive: Q2 2026 results (July 31, 2026)
- Colgate-Palmolive: quarterly dividend declaration (Business Wire, September 17, 2026)
- Third-party data (consensus and price), not from the company: Zacks Equity Research (article undated, retrieved October 28, 2026); MarketBeat (October 23, 2026); Barchart via Yahoo Finance (October 15, 2026); Google Finance (close of October 27, 2026)
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Company figures are taken from the releases listed; consensus and the share price come from the third-party sources listed, as of the dates stated; and the second-half and valuation figures are my own arithmetic, not a company forecast. Confirm current figures with your broker or the company’s investor relations page. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of capital, and a dividend payment is never guaranteed.
