Church & Dwight Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Sales Up 5% Y/Y

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD) reported third-quarter 2025 results, wherein both top and bottom lines beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increased year over year.

Quarterly adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 81 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 73 cents. The bottom line also increased 2.5% year over year.

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Quote

Taking a Closer Look at CHD’s Q3 Results

Net sales of $1,585.6 million increased 5% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,535 million. Organic sales gained 3.4%, driven by a 4% increase in volume, partially offset by a 0.6% decline from pricing and mix.

Momentum with the e-commerce unit continued in the third quarter, with global online sales accounting for 23% of the total consumer sales in the quarter.

Church & Dwight’s gross margin contracted 10 basis points (bps) to 45.1%, while adjusted gross margin was 45.1%, up 10 bps year over year, reflecting productivity programs and higher-margin acquisitions, partially offset by higher manufacturing and tariff costs (net of mitigation). We expected an adjusted gross margin of 44% in the quarter.

Marketing expenses increased $17.1 million year over year to $202.9 million. Adjusted selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, as a percentage of net sales, increased 20 bps to 15.2%.

CHD Provides Insights by Segment

Consumer Domestic: Net sales in the segment gained 4.2% to $1,219.7 million. Organic sales increased 2.3% driven by a higher volume rise of 3.7%, partially offset by a price and product mix drop of 1.4%. Our estimate for the segment’s organic sales for the quarter was 0.5% growth. The company saw strength in THERABREATH mouthwash, HERO acne products, ARM & HAMMER Cat Litter and TROJAN condoms, offset by softness in the vitamin business and WATERPIK flossers.

Consumer International: Net sales in the segment jumped 8.4% to $290.1 million. Organic sales climbed 7.7% compared with our expectation of a 3.7% rise. This was driven by volume growth of 5.9% and a price and product mix rise of 1.8%. Sales growth was fueled by HERO, THERABREATH and BATISTE, as well as broad-based across all the international markets.

Specialty Products: Sales in the segment increased 5.1% to $75.8 million. Organic sales grew 4.2%, driven by a 2.5% improvement in price and product mix and a 1.7% rise in volume. Our model anticipated the segment’s organic sales growth to be 2%.

CHD’s Financial Health

This Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $305.3 million and long-term debt of $2,204.5 million. For the first nine months of 2025, cash from operations totaled $852 million. Capital expenditures were $67.2 million in the same time frame.

CHD expects about $120 million in capital expenditures for 2025. Church & Dwight expects cash flow from operations to be in the range of $1.1 billion to approximately $1.2 billion.

What to Expect From CHD?

For 2025, the company expects organic sales growth of approximately 1.5%, which includes contributions from the Touchland brand and the impact of lower sales from businesses being exited. Organic sales growth is predicted at 1%.

The company anticipates a full-year reported gross margin of 44.2%, including costs associated with the three business exits. Adjusted gross margin is expected to contract 40 basis points compared with 2024, as tariffs, elevated input costs and unfavorable price/mix are expected to outpace incremental productivity gains and higher-margin acquisition benefits. Marketing as a percentage of sales is expected to represent approximately 11%, as the company invests in its brands to build momentum heading into 2026.

For 2025, CHD continues to anticipate SG&A, as a percentage of sales, to be lower than the actuals of 2024. Other expense for 2025 is anticipated at approximately $65 million, while the adjusted tax rate is now expected to be 22.5%, previously estimated at 23%. Full-year adjusted EPS for 2025 is expected to be approximately $3.49.

For the fourth quarter, reported sales growth is expected to be approximately 3.5%, with organic sales growth of about 1.5%. Marketing and SG&A are expected to be lower as a percentage of sales compared with the fourth quarter of 2024. As a result, adjusted EPS is estimated at approximately 83 cents, representing an 8% increase compared with last year’s figure.

CHD stock has lost 13% in the past three months compared with the industry’s 5% decline.

Stocks to Consider

United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. At present, United Natural sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The consensus estimate for United Natural’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 2.5% and 167.6%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. UNFI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 416.2%, on average.

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) engages in the production, distribution and marketing of frozen potato products in the United States, Canada, Mexico and internationally. It sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. Lamb Weston delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 16%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lamb Weston's current fiscal-year sales indicates growth of 1.3% from the prior-year levels.

Vital Farms (VITL) packages, markets and distributes shell eggs, butter and other products in the United States. It carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. Vital Farms delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 35.8%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vital Farms’ current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies an increase of 27.2% and 16.1%, respectively, from the prior-year levels.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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