Consumer products giant Clorox (NYSE: CLX) reported Q2 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, but sales fell by 2% year on year to $1.95 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.66 per share was 0.9% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Clorox (CLX) Q2 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $1.95 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.90 billion (2% year-on-year decline, 2.6% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $1.66 vs analyst estimates of $1.65 (0.9% beat)
- Adjusted EPS guidance for the upcoming financial year 2027 is $5.85 at the midpoint, missing analyst estimates by 1.8%
- Operating Margin: 10.9%, down from 21% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $11.55 billion
Company Overview
Founded in 1913 with bleach as the sole product offering, Clorox (NYSE: CLX) today is a consumer products giant whose product portfolio spans everything from bleach to skincare to salad dressing to kitty litter.
Revenue Growth
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years.
With $6.72 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Clorox is one of the larger consumer staples companies and benefits from a well-known brand that influences purchasing decisions. However, its scale is a double-edged sword because there are only a finite number of major retail partners, placing a ceiling on its growth. To accelerate sales, Clorox likely needs to optimize its pricing or lean into new products and international expansion.
As you can see below, Clorox’s revenue declined by 3.1% per year over the last three years, a rough starting point for our analysis.
This quarter, Clorox’s revenue fell by 2% year on year to $1.95 billion but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 2.6%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 12.8% over the next 12 months, an acceleration versus the last three years. This projection is noteworthy and suggests its newer products will fuel better top-line performance.
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Cash Is King
Although earnings are undoubtedly valuable for assessing company performance, we believe cash is king because you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills.
Clorox has shown impressive cash profitability, driven by its attractive business model that gives it the option to reinvest or return capital to investors. The company’s free cash flow margin averaged 7.8% over the last two years, better than the broader consumer staples sector.
Key Takeaways from Clorox’s Q2 Results
It was encouraging to see Clorox beat analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its gross margin missed and its full-year EPS guidance fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this was a mixed quarter. The stock remained flat at $98.98 immediately after reporting.
So should you invest in Clorox right now? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
