Colgate-Palmolive Co.’s stock CL rose 1.4% in premarket trade Friday, after the consumer goods company posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The New York-based company posted net income of $372 million, or 45 cents a share, for the quarter, down from $559 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 73 cents, ahead of the 70 cent FactSet consensus. Sales rose 8.5% to $4.770 billion from $4.399 billion, and were also ahead of the $4.587 billion FactSet consensus. Gross profit margin fell 160 basis points due to the impact of private label sales resulting from the acquisitions of pet food businesses. But the company retained its leadership in toothpaste with a global market share of 40.2% in the year to date, and its leadership in manual toothbrushes of 30.6% year-to-date. Colgate is now expecting full-year sales growth of 3% to 6% and for double-digit growth in EPS. The FactSet consensus implies about 5% growth in sales and 5% growth in EPS. The stock has fallen 1.1% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 8%.
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