Colgate-Palmolive's Stock Drops After Sales Miss Offsets In-line Profit

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Co. tumbled 3.6% in premarket trade Friday, after the personal care products company matched second-quarter profit expectations but missed on sales. Net profit fell to $524 million, or 59 cents a share, from $600 million, or 67 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings per share came to 72 cents, in line with the FactSet consensus of 72 cents. Revenue fell to $3.83 billion from $3.85 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $3.90 billion. Oral, personal and home care revenue slipped to $3.25 billion from $3.27 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $3.32 billion, while pet nutrition revenue was flat at $572 million and missed expectations of $577 million. "As we look ahead, uncertainty in global markets and slowing category growth worldwide remain challenging," said Chief Executive Ian Cook. "Based on current spot rates, we continue to expect a low-single-digit net sales increase for 2017, and given our slower than expected first half, we are now planning for low-single-digit organic sales growth for 2017." The stock has gained 10.2% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has tacked on 6.3% and the S&P 500 has advanced 10.5%.