Colgate-Palmolive Company’s CL Hill’s Pet Nutrition delivered strong fourth-quarter 2025 results despite a soft category, with dog segment weakness offset by continued growth in the cat business. The U.S. showed a solid rebound, supported by more than 5% growth excluding private label and positive volume performance. While external challenges, such as “Buy Canadian” trends, impacted Canada, overall momentum remains encouraging. A primary driver of growth was the prescription diet segment; growth is particularly strong, driving share gains and reinforcing confidence in Hill’s sustained progress despite sluggish market conditions.
Despite a challenging category, private label reduced volume by 360 basis points, Hill’s delivered underlying volume growth of 2%, with broad-based gains across core segments, though dry remained soft. Therapeutic products remain a key growth driver, with Prescription Diet delivering strong growth and market share gains, supporting margins and profitability. Science-based innovation continues to drive gains across channels and create value for retailers. While softer pet adoptions are weighing on category growth, ongoing premiumization and innovation present clear opportunities.
Strategic acquisitions like Prime100 continued to outperform expectations, driven by strong execution and its science-based, vet-endorsed positioning. The brand’s focus on dermatology and innovation in fresh nutrition aligns well with its long-term growth strategy. It is already profitable, with ongoing efforts to enhance efficiency, formulations and supply-chain performance.
The company exited 2025 with increased shelf share, strengthening its position heading into a more challenging 2026. Supply-chain improvements are supporting higher innovation output, with the Tonganoxie plant adding flexibility to expand global wet product distribution. The brand continues to grow across key retail environments despite heightened competition in the second half of the year. Overall, science-led strategy continues to outperform, and ongoing investment in brand advertising is helping sustain momentum.
Colgate’s shares have gained 9.5% in the past six months against the industry’s decline of 6.5%. CL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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From a valuation standpoint, CL trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, higher than the industry’s average of 17.43X.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CL’s current and next fiscal-year earnings implies year-over-year growth of 5.4% and 6.7%, respectively.
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Some better-ranked stocks have been discussed below:
Smithfield Foods, Inc. SFD produces various packaged meats and fresh pork products in the United States and internationally. SFD currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SFD’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 1.1% and 7.5%, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures. SFD delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15.3%, on average.
Krispy Kreme, Inc. DNUT produces doughnuts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and internationally. At present, DNUT sports a Zacks Rank of 1.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DNUT’s current fiscal-year sales implies a decline of 6.8%, and the same for earnings implies growth of 50% from the year-ago reported figures. DNUT delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.6%, on average.
Kenvue Inc. KVUE operates as a consumer health company in the United States, the rest of North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America. KVUE currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KVUE’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 2.9% and 1.9%, respectively, from the year-ago actuals. KVUE delivered a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 9.8%, on average.
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Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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