Procter

Dividend powerhouse Procter & Gamble (PG 0.94%) owns some of the world’s most valuable consumer brands, including Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste, Pampers diapers, and Bounty paper towels. But over the last year, its stock has badly lagged the S&P 500.

How high has P&G’s stock ever gotten? And can it get there again?

The top of the mountain

P&G stock hit its all-time closing high of $179.90/share on Dec. 2, 2024. But 2025 hasn’t been kind to the consumer staples behemoth. The stock is currently down more than 13% from its all-time high.

P&G shares beat the market from December 2018 to November 2023. P&G returned 83.4% to the S&P 500’s 81.4%.

Then, in December 2023, the S&P 500 rose sharply, while P&G’s stock declined. Even though P&G stock recovered the very next month, keeping pace with the S&P 500 for the next nine months, that one-month blip was enough to derail the company’s historical performance. A year later, on the day it hit its all-time high, its five-year total return of 65.7% badly trailed the S&P 500’s 110.3% total return.

What it tells us

This is a good reminder to look at multiple timeframes when researching a stock’s historical performance. I recommend comparing at least the one-, five-, and 10-year returns of a stock to the S&P 500 (and be sure to use total returns — which factor in reinvestment of dividends — when looking at dividend payers like P&G).

Today, P&G’s fundamentals look sound. Revenue is at all-time highs of $84.3 billion, and net income is up sharply at $16.1 billion over the same timeframe. The company plans to cut 7,000 jobs and shed a number of underperforming brands, focusing instead on its major moneymakers. But sales of P&G’s higher-priced brands may take a hit in the event of a recession, which is probably what’s weighing down the stock.

John Bromels has positions in Procter & Gamble. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The world’s largest consumer goods maker said it will have to raise prices on a quarter of its products starting in August.

Procter & Gamble has said it will need to raise prices on a quarter of the goods it sells in the United States starting this month in order to mitigate costs it has faced because of the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, in conjunction with its earnings report, the world’s largest consumer goods maker named Shailesh Jejurikar as its new chief executive officer as the company navigates tariff-driven uncertainty weighing on the sector.

The price hikes have been communicated to retailers such as Walmart and Target and are in the mid-single digits across categories, a spokesperson said, and will be seen on shelves starting in August.

In May, Walmart also announced that it would need to raise prices on goods sold at the big box retailer because of the economic impact of tariffs.

P&G topped fourth-quarter estimates for its earnings report. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based firm reported revenue of $20.89bn for the quarter. Organic sales grew about 2 percent in fiscal 2025, driven by P&G’s portfolio of branded pantry staples, as well as higher pricing, particularly for fresher products. But that comes as growth is expected to slow.

Growth stalls

P&G expects fiscal 2026 annual net sales growth of between 1 percent and 5 percent, largely below estimates of a 3.09 percent growth.

Market growth slowed from where it was at the start of the year in both the US and Europe, and volatile macroeconomic, geopolitical and consumer dynamics were resulting in headwinds that were not anticipated at the start of the year, CFO Andre Schulten said during a call with journalists.

“The consumer clearly is more selective in terms of shopping behaviour in our categories, and we see a desire to find value either by going into larger pack sizes in club channel or online or big box retailers or by lowering the cash outlay,” Schulten said.

The comments from the company reinforce how consumers, particularly in the lower-income category, are seeking value as they look to stretch their household budgets. Packaged food maker Nestle said last week that consumer spending in North America remained weak.

“Given the immense pressure put on US consumers in particular, the organic growth is a very good sign that long-term earnings projections should hold up,” said Brian Mulberry, portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management.

P&G, which makes household basics spanning from Bounty paper towels to Metamucil fibre supplements, estimated tariffs will increase its costs by about $1bn before tax for fiscal 2026. That compares with projections of between $1bn and $1.5bn made in April.

The company rolled out a restructuring effort in June to exit some brands and cut about 7,000 jobs over the next two years to increase productivity. Prices rose about 1 percent in the fourth quarter, while volumes were flat.

P&G expects fiscal 2026 core net earnings per share growth in the range of $6.83 and $7.09, compared with estimates of $6.99, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

On Wall Street, the company’s stock over the last five days is down 0.5 percent, down 1.1 percent for the month and since the beginning of the year, it has tumbled 5.15 percent.

Procter & Gamble said Thursday it plans to cut 7,000 jobs, about 15% of its workforce, over two years. The company said it’s part of a plan to accelerate growth.
The Opte, an at-home precision skincare solution, seen during a Proctor and Gamble press conference at the 2020 International CES, in Las Vegas. File Photo by James Atoa/UPI | License Photo

June 5 (UPI) — Procter & Gamble said Thursday it plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of a plan it said aims to accelerate growth.

The company said the cuts will take place over the next two years and represent 15% of its non-manufacturing workforce.

“In Fiscal 2026, we’ll begin a 2-year effort to accelerate P&G’s growth and value creation. These changes across our portfolio, supply chain and organization are designed to unlock significant opportunities for stronger delivery of P&G’s integrated growth strategy,” the company said in a statement.

Procter & Gamble said the workers losing their jobs will be “managed with support and respect, and in line with our principles and values and local laws.”

The workforce reduction is part of similar actions across U.S. industries amid tariff turmoil, fierce competition and consumer spending changes.

Companies are spending less, slowing hiring and sending layoff notices,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in an emailed statement to CBS News.

According to Challenger, job cuts are 47% higher now than a year ago.

According to Procter & Gamble, fiscal year 2024 was the eighth straight year of 2% or better earnings per share growth.

“Through the first three quarters of the 2025 fiscal year, P&G delivered +3% Core EPS growth — at the mid-point of 2-to-4% guidance range for the fiscal year,” the company statement said.

Procter & Gamble also said over the first three fiscal quarters of 2025 $13 billion was returned to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

In addition to the layoffs, Procter & Gamble said changes it is implementing are focused on its portfolio, supply chain and organization design.

This will include ending some “categories, brands and product forms in individual markets” that could include some brand divestitures.

The Procter & Gamble supply chain will also be re-sized and re-located in an effort to ” drive efficiencies, faster innovation, cost reduction and even more reliable and resilient supply.”

There will also be changes in what Procter & Gamble said are “accountable organization design,” including making roles broader, making teams smaller while leveraging digitization and automation.

As Procter & Gamble reorganizes to deliver higher profits for shareholders, workers will be impacted by the job cuts and changing responsibilities within the company.

Procter & Gamble said taken together, these changes are “intended to widen P&G’s margin of advantage in superiority leading to growth and value creation.”