Procter & Gamble (PG) stock is trading notably lower Tuesday after the consumer products giant reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results that were mixed compared with analysts' expectations.
In the three months ended June 30, P&G's revenue declined 0.1% year-over-year to $20.5 billion due to a 2% unfavorable foreign exchange impact. This offset a 1% rise in volume and a 1% increase in prices. The company said its earnings per share (EPS) improved 2.2% from the year-ago period to $1.40.
"Fiscal year 2024 was another year of strong results for P&G," said Procter & Gamble CEO Jon Moeller in a statement. "The team met or exceeded our going-in plans for organic sales growth, core EPS growth, cash generation and cash returned to shareowners in a challenging economic and geopolitical environment."
Wall Street, meanwhile, was anticipating revenue of $20.7 billion and earnings of $1.37 per share, according to Yahoo Finance.
"As we look forward to fiscal 2025, we expect to deliver strong organic sales growth, EPS growth and free cash flow productivity – each in-line with our long-term growth algorithm," Moeller said.
For fiscal 2025, Procter & Gamble is targeting revenue growth in the range of 2% to 4%. It expects earnings per share to arrive between $6.91 to $7.05, which is in-line with analysts' forecasts for 3% revenue growth and earnings of $6.97 per share.
Is Procter & Gamble stock a buy, sell or hold?
Heading into Tuesday's session, Procter & Gamble was one of the better-performing Dow Jones stocks this year, up 18.2% on a total return basis (price change plus dividends).
As a result, Wall Street is bullish on the blue chip stock. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the average analyst target price for PG is $174.68, representing an upside of more than 9% from current levels. Additionally, the consensus recommendation is Buy.
Speaking for the bulls is UBS Global Research analyst Peter Grom, who has a Buy rating on PG. While Grom did not expect the company's fiscal Q4 results to be a positive catalyst for the shares amid lagging top-line growth, he has "high conviction in P&G being able to deliver on-algorithm growth in fiscal 2025, which should drive continued outperformance in our view."
Grom has an above-average price target of $191 on Procter & Gamble.
