A weak fourth-quarter earnings release sent shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) tumbling 3% in the last week of January, and the stock has gone nowhere since the end of 2016. A competitive environment, eroding market share, and little pricing power have had investors questioning the safety of their money in the consumer staples giant. The $226 billion consumer goods behemoth reported just 2% growth in sales from the same quarter last year, and that was entirely driven by volume with no pricing upside. Despite a cost-reduction plan that trimmed off 1.9%, the operating margin still lost 0.1% on… Read More
A weak fourth-quarter earnings release sent shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) tumbling 3% in the last week of January, and the stock has gone nowhere since the end of 2016. A competitive environment, eroding market share, and little pricing power have had investors questioning the safety of their money in the consumer staples giant. The $226 billion consumer goods behemoth reported just 2% growth in sales from the same quarter last year, and that was entirely driven by volume with no pricing upside. Despite a cost-reduction plan that trimmed off 1.9%, the operating margin still lost 0.1% on a year-over-year basis. Against this abysmal report by a bellwether of the sector, companies in the consumer products group still trade for a lofty 25.6 times trailing earnings. But not all was half-empty in the company’s earnings call. Looking deeper to the segment-level presented a different picture. #-ad_banner-#Using P&G as a guide for the larger sector may reveal opportunities for investors in consumer staples. P&G Earnings As A Preview For The 2018 Consumer Staples Procter & Gamble is so massive and so diversified across consumer-packaged products that it can be used as a guide to the sector. Even after… Read More