Insight Guru Inc.
11/13/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/13/2026 12:08
Is Procter & Gamble Stock Worth More Than Its Rivals
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Procter & Gamble (PG) retains more of each dollar of sales as operating profit than any of its four rivals in household and personal care, Church & Dwight among them. Yet the stock has posted the smallest gain of the five over the past year, and buyers pay less for its earnings than for Church & Dwight's. How wide is Procter & Gamble's lead, and how much less are buyers paying for it?
Procter & Gamble Earns More Yet Trades Cheaper
Over its latest four fiscal quarters, ended September 30, 2026, Procter & Gamble turned 22.6% of its sales into operating profit, compared with 18.0% at Church & Dwight. Sales at Procter & Gamble also grew faster, rising 3.5% from the four quarters before, while Church & Dwight's rose 1.7%.
Yet buyers pay 24.4 times earnings for Procter & Gamble, compared with 34.1 times for Church & Dwight. Church & Dwight shares also returned 32.0% including dividends in the year to November 12, 2026, compared with 16.4% for Procter & Gamble.
Church & Dwight is the only rival whose P/E can fairly be set beside Procter & Gamble's. Colgate-Palmolive, Estee Lauder and e.l.f. Beauty each reported a net loss in one of their latest four quarters, meaning their higher P/E ratios are not comparable. Procter & Gamble's lead also rests in profit rather than growth. Its sales growth ranks fourth of the five, far behind e.l.f. Beauty's 39.9%.
| PG | CL | CHD | EL | ELF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Fiscal Quarters | ended 2026-09-30 (Q2 FY2026 to Q1 FY2027) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q4 FY2025 to Q3 FY2026) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q2 FY2026 to Q1 FY2027) | ended 2026-09-30 (Q3 FY2026 to Q2 FY2027) |
| Market Value (USD billion) | 390 | 78 | 26.4 | 40.1 | 6.7 |
| P/E | 24.4 | 38 (not in the P/E rank) | 34.1 | 109.1 (not in the P/E rank) | 77.4 (not in the P/E rank) |
| Revenue Growth | 3.5% | 5.9% | 1.7% | 5.8% | 39.9% |
| Operating Margin | 22.6% | 19.2% | 18% | 12.2% | 13.6% |
| Total Return, Incl. Dividends, 2025-11-11 to 2026-11-12 | 16.4% | 26.1% | 32% | 23.4% | 45.6% |
Data as of 11/12/2026. Revenue growth, operating margin and the net income in the P/E are for each company's four fiscal quarters in the first row; revenue growth is against the four quarters before. A P/E marked "not in the P/E rank" belongs to a company whose net income was below zero in at least one of those four quarters.
What Is Driving Procter & Gamble's Sales And Costs?
Procter & Gamble sells everyday household and personal care goods. Fabric & Home Care was its biggest segment in fiscal 2026, with $30.3 billion of the company's $87.0 billion in revenue. Beauty grew fastest of the segments that year, up 7.1%, while Baby, Feminine & Family Care barely grew.
Organic sales grew 4.0% in fiscal Q1 2027, ended September 30, 2026. Management said most of that growth came from selling more units rather than raising prices. Each of the company's 10 product categories grew, management said on the October 22, 2026 call.
Rising costs are eating into the company's cost savings, though. Management said productivity improved by 250 basis points in the quarter, but commodity and freight costs and spending to win customers offset it. On management's own adjusted measure, core operating margin for the quarter fell 80 basis points from a year earlier. Procter & Gamble's reported operating margin over four quarters is also down from 24.1% a year earlier.
What Has Procter & Gamble Promised For Fiscal 2027?
Management kept its fiscal 2027 ranges for organic sales, core EPS and free cash flow productivity on October 22, 2026, including organic sales growth of 1% to 3%. It expects core earnings per share of $6.89 to $7.11 for the year. On sales, management expects about 3% organic growth in the first half of fiscal 2027.
The risk lies in costs. The outlook includes about $1.4 billion of higher costs after tax, mainly from raw materials, energy and transportation, and management expects materially higher cost headwinds in the fiscal second quarter. Management will also lay out its longer-term plans at an Investor Day on November 19, 2026.
Slower growth does not explain Procter & Gamble's lower P/E, since Church & Dwight's sales grew more slowly still. So far, Procter & Gamble still keeps more of each sale than any of its four rivals, though its margin has slipped over the past year. Procter & Gamble's operating margin in its fiscal second-quarter report, expected in January 2027, is the number to watch.
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Insight Guru Inc. published this content on November 13, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 13, 2026 at 18:08 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]