Procter & Gamble's Stock Gains As Profit Beat, Steady Outlook Offset A Sales Miss -- MarketWatch

MarketWatch · 10/18 11:05

Shares of Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) gained 1% in premarket trading Friday, after the consumer packaged-goods company reported fiscal first-quarter profit that beat expectations and maintained its full-year outlook even as sales surprisingly declined. Net income for the quarter to Sept. 30 fell to $3.96 billion, or $1.61 a share, from $4.52 billion, or $1.83 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding nonrecurring items, core earnings per share rose to $1.93 from $1.83 and beat the FactSet consensus of $1.90. Net sales slipped 0.6% to $21.74 billion from $21.87 billion, while the FactSet consensus called for an increase to$21.99 billion. Weakness in beauty and baby, feminine and family care offset growth in health care and fabric and home care. Looking ahead, P&G maintained its guidance ranges for sales growth 2% to 4% and for core EPS growth from 5% to 7%. The stock has rallied 16.9% year to date through Thursday, while the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) has gained 13.9% and the S&P 500 index has advanced 22.5%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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October 18, 2024 07:05 ET (11:05 GMT)