NEW YORK, January 22, 2026, 11:20 EST — Regular session
- PG shares climbed Thursday following Procter & Gamble’s release of its fiscal second-quarter earnings.
- Despite a drop in volumes, the company maintained its full-year sales and core profit forecast.
- Traders are sizing up U.S. demand data as next week’s Fed decision looms.
Procter & Gamble shares climbed 2.7% to $150.07 in late morning trading Thursday, bouncing between $142.08 and $150.50 earlier in the session.
The shift comes at a jittery time for consumer staples, with investors eager to see two key things: the true strength of volume and how much growth is already baked into prices.
P&G’s results are crucial since the company anchors the everyday essentials sector — detergent, diapers, paper products — and its pricing and sales trends usually influence the entire group.
P&G reported fiscal second-quarter net sales up 1% to $22.2 billion. Organic sales, which exclude currency fluctuations and acquisitions, held steady as price hikes balanced out a 1% drop in unit volume. Core earnings—P&G’s adjusted profit metric—came in at $1.88 per share, while diluted EPS fell to $1.78. CEO Shailesh Jejurikar said the results “keep us on track to deliver within our fiscal year guidance ranges.” The company stuck to its full-year sales and core EPS targets and maintained its forecast for after-tax tariff costs around $400 million. Core gross margin declined by 50 basis points, or 0.50 percentage points. 1
The quarter still showed signs of strain. According to Reuters, LSEG data revealed net sales of $22.21 billion, slightly under the $22.28 billion analysts expected. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.88 per share, beating estimates by two cents. The report highlighted weaker U.S. spending on items like laundry and paper, though beauty products held up better. The company noted a U.S. government shutdown delayed food assistance payments in October and November. Finance chief Andre Schulten said on the analyst call, “We need to get the U.S. growing.” Zacks’ Brian Mulberry added that “the consumer is making choices driven by cost,” while Aptus Capital Advisors’ David Wagner suggested investors might “look past the organic sales miss.” 2
On Thursday, P&G filed an 8-K that included its earnings release for the quarter ending Dec. 31. 3
The broader market gained traction. U.S. indexes climbed after reports revealed consumer spending grew steadily in October and November, while the PCE inflation measure held at 2.8% year-on-year in November, sharpening focus on next week’s Fed meeting. 4
Within the peer group, Colgate-Palmolive edged up modestly. Kimberly-Clark climbed roughly 2%, and Unilever added close to 1% in late morning trading.
The relief rally offers little buffer for setbacks. Should U.S. shoppers continue shifting to smaller packages or cut back on essentials, volume could remain weak, squeezing the company’s ability to protect its margins.
Investors are watching closely to see if P&G can steady U.S. demand in the second half of the fiscal year. The next key event is the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Jan. 27-28, with the rate decision set for Jan. 28. 5
