NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 19:08 ET — After-hours
Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) slipped 0.1% to $144.57 in after-hours trading on Monday, when stocks trade after the 4 p.m. ET close. The shares traded between $143.96 and $145.06 in the regular session, with about 7.7 million shares changing hands, according to market data.
The quiet move comes as investors head into two near-term dates for the consumer-staples giant. Chief Operating Officer Shailesh Jejurikar is scheduled to take over as CEO on Jan. 1, and the company has set its fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call for Jan. 22 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Analysts expect P&G to post fiscal second-quarter profit of $1.87 per share, down slightly from $1.88 a year earlier, according to Barchart. Earnings per share, or EPS, is profit divided by shares outstanding, and investors use it to gauge how much money a business generates per share. Barchart data show P&G shares are down about 14.9% over the last 52 weeks, lagging the S&P 500’s 14.8% gain.
The broader market tone stayed cautious into the final week of 2025. The S&P 500 fell 0.35% on Monday as big tech retreated, and “this is not the beginning of the end of the tech dominance,” said Hank Smith, director and head of investment strategy at Haverford Trust. Traders are also watching minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting and weekly jobless claims later this week, with U.S. markets closed Thursday for New Year’s Day, Reuters reported. Reuters
Defensive consumer-staples shares were mixed alongside P&G. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) — an exchange-traded fund, or ETF, that tracks a basket of staples stocks — was up 0.1% in late trading. Colgate-Palmolive was little changed and Kimberly-Clark edged higher, while Unilever’s U.S.-listed shares fell 0.6%.
P&G often trades as a defensive holding because shoppers keep buying household basics even when they pull back on discretionary spending. That label can help limit volatility, but it can also leave the stock trailing higher-growth sectors in strong rallies.
In its last quarterly update in October, P&G kept its fiscal 2026 core EPS forecast at $6.83 to $7.09 and said it expected roughly $400 million after tax in higher costs from tariffs. Core EPS is an adjusted profit measure that excludes certain items the company classifies as non-core, such as some restructuring charges. P&G also said it expects to pay around $10 billion in dividends and repurchase about $5 billion of shares in fiscal 2026.
For the January report, investors will be looking for a clean read on volumes and pricing — whether price increases are still offsetting costs without cutting into units sold. Commentary on promotions and competition from cheaper store brands will be closely parsed.
Management’s tone on costs matters as well, with commodities, freight and tariffs still in the mix for packaged-goods companies. Any change in the pace of buybacks or dividend expectations would also draw attention in a sector that attracts income-focused investors.
Until those updates arrive, PG is likely to trade off broad risk appetite and rate expectations, especially in thin holiday markets. The next clear catalyst is the Jan. 22 earnings release and conference call.
