COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO Posts Higher Revenue but Lower Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both Reporting Windows

Bottom line

- The headline reading on this filing, drawn only from what management has put on the record, is a mixed picture: top-line growth held up on both reporting windows, while the bottom-line and operating-profit measures moved the other way. Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax was higher on both the three-month reporting period and the six-month year-to-date period relative to the prior-year comparatives, and Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, Operating Income (Loss) and Earnings Per Share, Diluted were each lower on both windows, in every case moving from a profit to a profit rather than crossing into a loss.

76 per diluted share - The reporting scope itself is the issuer's interim filing identified by 0000021665-26-000042 under CIK 0000021665 for COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO (CL), filed on 10-Q for fiscal period period-ended-2026-06-30. The two reporting windows the section speaks to are the three-month reporting period and the six-month year-to-date period, each measured against its prior-year comparative. 0000021665-26-000042 0000021665 COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO CL 10-Q period-ended-2026-06-30 - Management describes the company as tightly focused on two product segments — Oral, Personal and Home Care, and Pet Nutrition — and as organized geographically, with most of its Net sales generated outside the United States and a meaningful share coming from emerging markets.

Operationally the Oral, Personal and Home Care segment is reported through North America, Latin America, Europe/Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific. Within that structure, the company realigned its reportable operating segments effective for the quarter that opened the current year-to-date window, combining Europe and Africa/Eurasia (excluding Russia and Belarus) plus the skin health business into a new EMEA segment, and moving Russia and Belarus into the Asia Pacific segment. Management states this realignment did not impact historical consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows, and that historical geographic segment information was recast to match the new structure.

Note 5 Note 4 - Management ties its operating review to a defined set of indicators — net sales (volume, pricing and foreign exchange), organic sales growth as a non-GAAP measure, gross profit margin, SG&A, operating profit, net income and earnings per share on both GAAP and non-GAAP bases, alongside working capital, capital expenditures, cash flow and return on capital measures — together with market share, household penetration and other data. The cited risk-factor context in the Annual Report is referenced for forward-looking statements.

Item 1A - For the macro overlay, management flags that major developments in global trade relations — including new or increased tariffs — have contributed to inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic and market volatility, and have affected and may continue to affect consumer sentiment, consumption, discretionary spending and the cost or availability of raw and packaging materials. The company separately states that the war in Ukraine and related geopolitical tensions continue to have a significant impact on its operations in Ukraine and Russia, though it has not been material to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The filing also references contingencies for additional information on legal matters. Item 1A Note 10 - The reader-facing comparison sits only at the level the filing authorises: higher revenue and lower operating income, net income and diluted EPS on both windows, with each of those profit measures remaining in profit. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

- The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison and attributes the year-on-year moves to no single cause within this section's scope, so directional language is held to the authorised set and no driver narrative is offered here. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

Financial performance

- Reported facts: The interim filing for COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO (CL, 0000021665, 10-Q, accession 0000021665-26-000042, fiscal period period-ended-2026-06-30) frames four headline results against the prior year: Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax was $5,361,000,000 USD for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and $10,686,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2026, with prior comparatives of $5,110,000,000 USD and $10,021,000,000 USD respectively. Operating Income (Loss) was $1,016,000,000 USD for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and $1,980,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2026, against $1,080,000,000 USD and $2,156,000,000 USD. Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent was $693,000,000 USD and $1,339,000,000 USD for the same two windows, against $743,000,000 USD and $1,433,000,000 USD. Earnings Per Share, Diluted was $0.86 per diluted share USD/SHARES and $1.67 per diluted share USD/SHARES, against $0.91 per diluted share USD/SHARES and $1.76 per diluted share USD/SHARES.

- Accounting context: Management discloses a reportable segment realignment in which Russia and Belarus, formerly part of Africa/Eurasia, now sit within Asia Pacific; historical geographic segment information has been recast to conform, and the filing states that this change did not impact historical consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows. Restructuring activity is summarized in Note 5; acquisition matters appear in Note 4; and contingencies, including matters relevant to ongoing legal exposures, are addressed in Note 10.

- Management explanation: Management characterizes the environment through three macro overlays — global trade relations and tariffs, the war in Ukraine (which the filing notes has not been material to the Consolidated Financial Statements), and the conflict in the Middle East, which it also states did not have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements for the quarter. Management frames these as forward-looking risk factors rather than present-period drivers and ties risk-factor detail to Item 1A in the most recent Form ten-K. Strategy commentary introduces a Board-approved three-year productivity program and references a prior multi-year strategy that concluded the prior year.

- Analyst inference (qualitative, using authorized comparisons only): Relative to the prior-year windows, Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax moved higher on both the quarter and the six-month year-to-date views, while Operating Income (Loss), Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, and Earnings Per Share, Diluted each moved lower on both windows, with profit preserved across all four lines.

- Counter-evidence: The authorized directional read shows topline strength paired with earnings contraction — a divergence that would typically prompt an explanation; the filing instead attributes operating risk to the three macro overlays and to the productivity program, leaving the bridge between revenue growth and earnings decline unspecified for the covered periods.

- Unknowns: The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

Operating drivers and segments

The filing identifies two product segments — Oral, Personal and Home Care, and Hill's Pet Nutrition — organized along geographic lines. Within Oral, Personal and Home Care, four reportable operating segments (North America, Latin America, Europe/Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific) are managed for retailers, wholesalers, distributors, dentists and, in some geographies, skin health professionals. During the period, the company realigned those geographic segments: Europe and Africa/Eurasia (excluding Russia and Belarus) were combined with the skin health business (formerly within North America) into the new EMEA reportable operating segment, while Russia and Belarus moved into Asia Pacific. Management stated that this realignment did not impact historical consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows, and that prior-period geographic segment information was recast to conform. The Hill's Pet Nutrition segment is managed globally, selling through authorized pet supply retailers, veterinarians and eCommerce retailers. Group-level revenue in the three-month reporting period was $5,361,000,000 and in the six-month year-to-date period was $10,686,000,000, compared with $5,110,000,000 and $10,021,000,000, respectively; group-level operating income was $1,016,000,000 for the quarter and $1,980,000,000 for the half-year, against $1,080,000,000 and $2,156,000,000. The filing reports higher revenue year-over-year on both windows and lower operating income year-over-year on both windows. No segment-level revenue or operating income breakdown is presented in the quoted evidence available to this section.

Management frames the operating model as tightly focused on the two product segments, with a closely defined strategy to grow key categories and increase overall market share. Geographic diversity is emphasized: roughly two-thirds of Net sales are generated outside the United States, and an unquantified share comes from emerging markets (Latin America, Asia excluding Japan, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern and Central Europe). The company operates in more than an unstated number of countries and territories, with manufacturing, warehousing and distribution assets in every region. For the period, management cites higher organic sales in the Oral, Personal and Home Care segment in the second quarter (with the specific percentage omitted from the quoted text) and higher organic sales in the Hill's Pet Nutrition segment (with the specific percentage omitted), noting that the latter included a negative impact from lower private label pet food sales (the basis-point figure omitted). A new entry was added to the Hill's segment via an acquisition providing an entry into the fresh pet food category in Australia. Strategic priorities articulated are organic sales growth, consistent compounded earnings per share growth, operational efficiencies, and free cash flow growth paired with efficient balance sheet use. Management also flags global trade relations, including new or increased tariffs, as a contributor to inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic volatility, with potential effects on consumer sentiment, raw and packaging material cost or availability, and product pricing. The company monitors indicators including net sales (volume, pricing, foreign exchange components), organic sales growth (a non-GAAP measure excluding foreign exchange, acquisitions and divestments), gross profit margin, SG&A, operating profit, net income, EPS on GAAP and non-GAAP bases, working capital, capital expenditures, cash flow, return on capital, and market share and household penetration data. Operating income moved lower year-over-year on both the quarter and the half-year windows. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

Cash flow and capital

- Operating cash generation remained positive on the six-month year-to-date view, with Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities reported at $1,742,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2026. The prior-year comparative for the same six-month window was $1,484,000,000 USD, and the filing's authorized comparison registers the current period as higher than the prior period, with both sides remaining positive.

- Investing activity stayed in a use-of-cash posture. Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Investing Activities was -$244,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and -$560,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2025, with both six-month figures negative. The filing's authorized comparison registers the current six-month investing outflow as higher (closer to zero) than the prior-year comparative.

- Financing activity deepened its outflow. Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Financing Activities was -$1,414,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2026 against -$867,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2025, with both figures negative and the filing's authorized comparison registering the current period as lower than the prior period.

- Reported factors: management reiterates that strong free cash flow is central to funding investment and total shareholder return, citing net income growth, working capital optimization and high-return capital expenditures, and frames continued share repurchases and dividends as the cash-return leg. Management also flags continued higher raw and packaging material costs, foreign-exchange volatility in hyperinflationary economies, and a softer category backdrop that is expected to extend through the second half. No acquisition-related, restructuring-related or contingency-related cash figure is supplied in this section's catalog.

- Analyst inference: combining the authorized directions, operating inflows strengthened, investing outflows narrowed (less cash deployed) and financing outflows widened (more cash returned). Within the catalog that pattern is consistent only with cash being returned to shareholders rather than reinvested, but the filing does not break that financing outflow into dividends versus repurchases in this section.

- Counter-evidence and gaps: Payments for Repurchase of Common Stock was $597,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and $516,000,000 USD for the six months ended June 30, 2025, with the filing's authorized comparison registering the current six-month figure as higher than the prior period, so the repurchase leg of the financing outflow is documented; dividend cash payments are not surfaced in this section's catalog. Free cash flow, capital expenditure totals, net debt, working capital components, the change in cash and the composition of the financing outflow are not in the catalog, so any directional statement on those items would be unsupported.

- Balance sheet snapshot, as of the balance sheet date of June 30, 2026: Cash and Cash Equivalents, at Carrying Value was $1,370,000,000 USD, Accounts Receivable, after Allowance for Credit Loss, Current was $1,962,000,000 USD, Accounts Payable, Current was $2,115,000,000 USD, and Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities was $7,823,000,000 USD. Net debt, the maturity profile of debt and the change in cash between periods are not in the catalog and cannot be stated.

- Looking at peer-side context for comparable interim consumer-staples cash-return patterns, the AES Corp interim filing similarly combines higher revenue with stepped-up capital and dividend outflows, while ANI Pharmaceuticals and Broadcom illustrate contrasting cash-return profiles. This kind of cross-issuer contrast is only illustrative, and the filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison on COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO itself.

[notes: The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison., The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.]

Peer and historical context

Against its own prior-year windows, COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO posted a mixed but mostly softer tape on the income statement, while cash generation strengthened. Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax moved higher in both views the catalog covers, comparing favorably to the prior three-month reporting period and the prior six-month comparative, suggesting top-line momentum carried into the latest quarter rather than merely into the half (Broadcom Posts Higher Revenue, Operating Income, and Diluted EPS Year-Over-Year in the reporting period Filing reads on a similarly favorable revenue pattern, though the comparability of consumer-staples results with a semiconductor issuer is limited).

Operating Income (Loss), by contrast, was lower year over year on both the three-month reporting period and the six-month year-to-date view, and Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent likewise ran lower than the prior quarter and prior half — both stayed in profit on both sides of the comparison, consistent with the authorized profit-to-profit transition. That mix — higher sales with lower operating income and lower net income — is the kind of pattern that, in a peer vacuum, often hints at cost-of-goods or below-the-line pressure, but the filing does not supply a single driver in the management discussion, so any cause story is left to the machine-owned note rather than inferred here.

On the cash side, Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities improved relative to the prior six-month comparative, a constructive offset to the softer profitability readings and consistent with the company continuing to fund working capital needs while still returning cash to shareholders (Payments for Repurchase of Common Stock were higher than the prior half). The pattern of higher operating cash flow alongside lower reported net income is not unusual when working-capital movements and non-cash items move in the same direction; the magnitude is not quantified here, and the filing does not assign a single cause, so The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. applies to any gap discussion.

Peer comparison in the conventional sense is not present in the filing evidence. The filing does not name direct competitors, does not reference industry benchmarks, and does not include third-party market-share data, so The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison. governs any segment-level versus-peers statement. The management narrative does, however, frame the operating backdrop broadly — foreign-exchange volatility in markets such as Argentina, Nigeria and Türkiye, raw and packaging material costs, tariff and trade developments, and softer category demand — which is useful context but is not a peer benchmark.

Historical comparison is what the catalog supports directly: a same-issuer view across the three months ended June 30, 2025, the three months ended June 30, 2026, the six months ended June 30, 2025 and the six months ended June 30, 2026, using the authorized directions above. Outside those, anything more granular — category share, geographic mix, peer ranking — sits beyond what the cited notes and risk-factor reference permit.

Scenario analysis

- $5,361,000,000 is higher than $5,110,000,000 and $10,686,000,000 is higher than $10,021,000,000, and that combination describes a top-line path in which reported demand keeps expanding on both windows while the company's stated strategic priorities — brand reach, science-based innovation, omni-channel demand generation and the funding-the-growth cost program — continue to be the operating backdrop management describes in its forward-looking commentary in the cited filing 0000021665-26-000042. In this case, the income statement is consistent with continued revenue compounding through the second half of the six months ended June 30, 2026 at a pace close to the second-quarter comparison shown above, and the restructuring-related charges tied to the Strategic Growth and Productivity Program documented in the cited note Note 5 are absorbed within the higher gross-margin path management attributes to funding-the-growth savings, pricing and mix.

- $693,000,000 is lower than $743,000,000 and $1,339,000,000 is lower than $1,433,000,000, even though revenue on both windows is still higher year over year, so the base case treats that combination as evidence of margin compression rather than topline weakness. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. The filing does identify certain moving pieces within that margin bridge — savings from funding-the-growth initiatives, higher pricing, favorable mix, higher raw and packaging material costs (which it flags as including tariff and tariff-refund impacts), and restructuring-related charges flowing through cost of sales, SG&A and other (income) expense, net — but the relative weighting between those levers for the quarter and the six-month year-to-date period is not separately quantified in the cited evidence.

- The upside scenario requires the revenue pair to keep moving higher while net income reverses its authorized direction and turns higher against the prior-year comparators $743,000,000 and $1,433,000,000, so that operating leverage, pricing benefit and funding-the-growth savings more than offset the raw-material, tariff and restructuring drag. The downside scenario requires revenue on one or both windows to flatten or reverse while net income on the same windows falls further, with the additional risk that geopolitical disruption, retailer bargaining power and ongoing private-label pressure highlighted in management's commentary weigh on category share and pricing realization.

- The filing also points to acquisition-related items sitting in other (income) expense, net, and to contingencies discussed in the cited note Note 10, both of which are flagged here as separate scenario swing factors beyond the revenue and net-income pair. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. ; readers comparing this pattern to other recent interim filings may find the SMITH A O CORP (AOS) Reports Softer Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both the Quarter and Six-Month Year-to-Date Views note useful as a directional contrast, since that issuer shows the opposite revenue trajectory on both windows.

Risks and what to watch

- Management repeats the same forward-looking hedge language used in prior filings — "should position us well to manage through the challenges we face" — without quantifying those challenges or naming which geographies, inputs, or currencies are most exposed. The renewed reliance on the strength of brands, the global supply chain, and the global footprint leaves no measurable bracket for downside. - The Strategic Growth and Productivity Program is the single biggest recognizable source of friction in the period. Management explicitly states that Gross profit, Selling, general and administrative expenses, Other (income) expense, net, Operating profit, and Net income attributable to Colgate-Palmolive Company in the second quarter all "included charges resulting from the Strategic Growth and Productivity Program." Restructuring severity is detailed in the cited note Note 5, and any acceleration or extension of program spend is a near-term watch item. - Tariff and tariff-refund exposure is acknowledged inside raw and packaging material costs, but the magnitude is not isolated in the narrative. Combined with the smaller disclosure of acquisition-related costs flowing through Other (income) expense, net — and the additional acquisition context carried in the cited note Note 4 — this is a place where benign assumptions could break. - Contingencies tied to the cited note Note 10 are referenced but not quantified in the source narrative, leaving legal and regulatory outcomes as an open risk. - The risk-factor inventory itself is not refreshed in this filing; the narrative points back to the Risk Factors section of the Annual Report under the cited reference Item 1A, meaning no new risk register is being introduced.

Counter-evidence worth weighing: - Reported facts show a profit-to-profit transition on both the quarter and six-month views for Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent: $693,000,000 sits against $743,000,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2026 versus the three months ended June 30, 2025, and $1,339,000,000 sits against $1,433,000,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2026 versus the six months ended June 30, 2025. The authorized direction on both windows is decrease, so the year-over-year bottom line softened even though the headline remained profitable. - Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax tells the opposite story on the top line: $5,361,000,000 is higher than $5,110,000,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2026 versus the three months ended June 30, 2025, and $10,686,000,000 is higher than $10,021,000,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2026 versus the six months ended June 30, 2025. The authorized direction on both windows is increase, so growth and margin compression are traveling in opposite directions. - Management attributes the Gross profit margin lift to cost savings, higher pricing, and favorable mix, partially offset by higher raw and packaging material costs that include tariff and tariff-refund impacts. The narrative does not, however, explain why earnings fell while revenue rose. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. - Tongue-in-cheek crossover reference: peers like SMITH A O CORP (AOS) Reports Softer Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both the Quarter and Six-Month Year-to-Date Views in Form 10-Q show an outright top-line decline, so the divergence here is structural — growth at the top, softening at the bottom — rather than a sector-wide demand collapse.

Unknowns: - No peer or industry comparison is provided inside the filing evidence. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison. - The size of the pricing benefit, the size of the raw-material tariff drag, and the size of the productivity-program charge are not disclosed in absolute terms in the source narrative. - The geographic split of the share-point gains and losses in toothpaste and manual toothbrush is described directionally but not scaled.

Metrics to watch next period: - Whether revenue growth holds while Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent recovers, given the authorized decrease on both windows this period. - The run-rate of Strategic Growth and Productivity Program charges and any sign of program completion in the cited note Note 5. - Tariff and raw-material cost commentary, and any disclosure of acquisition-related costs continuing to flow through Other (income) expense, net. - Movement in contingencies under the cited note Note 10. - Any refresh of the Risk Factors section versus the carry-forward language tied to the cited reference Item 1A.