Clorox超出2011年预期，但全年指导乏善可陈

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) delivered a top- and bottom-line beat in the fiscal fourth quarter, reflecting a temporary benefit from retailer inventory build ahead of a shipping transition and divestiture of its Better Health Vitamins business.

Over the past three years, Clorox (NYSE:CLX) has been transitioning to a more efficient inventory management system, prompting retailers to front-run orders before the switch to its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. 

As a result, shares are only modestly higher as the company warned of “continued rapidly shifting consumer behaviors and broader market volatility," as well as the impact from the ERP transition, reflected in disappointing guidance for the fiscal year. 

“As we look to fiscal year 2026, we remain focused on operational excellence and driving category and market share improvements. With more work to do, we are confident in the strength of our strategy, the resilience of our portfolio of trusted brands, and our ability to deliver value for consumers, customers and shareholders over the long term," CEO Linda Rendle said.

The company earned an adjusted profit of $2.87 per share, an increase of 58% and $0.66 better than expected. Total sales increased 5.3% from a year ago to $2B, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93B. Organic sales were up 8% with incremental ERP shipments contributing ~13-14 points of benefit to net sales.

With the combination of higher volume and cost savings along with higher manufacturing and logistics costs, gross margin was unchanged at 46.5%.

For FY26, Clorox (NYSE:CLX) expects sales to be down 6% to 10% while organic sales are expected to be down 5% to 9%, including a negative impact of approximately 7 to 8 points as the inventory build by retailers into Clorox's (CLX) ERP transition will likely stifle retailer sales for the remainder of the year. This will likely drive gross margin down 50 to 100 basis points from FY25 gross margin of 45.2%.

Adjusted earnings are expected to be down 18% to 23% to $5.95 to $6.30 reflecting a negative impact of approximately 85 to 95 cents associated with the ERP transition. This is below the consensus estimate of $6.46 per share.