Oakland, California-based The Clorox Company (CLX) manufactures and markets consumer and professional products. It operates through Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International segments. With a market cap of $17.5 billion, Clorox’s portfolio consists of diverse brands sold in more than 100 countries and nearly every region of the world.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," Clorox fits this bill perfectly. Given its extensive operations and strong brand portfolio, Clorox’s valuation above this mark is unsurprising.
Despite its strengths, CLX stock has tanked 16.6% from its 52-week high of $171.37 touched on Dec. 6, 2024. Meanwhile, CLX has plunged 12.8% over the past three months, underperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s ($DOWI) 2% dip during the same time frame.
Clorox’s performance has remained grim over the longer term as well. CLX stock has plummeted 11.7% over the past six months and 4.6% over the past 52 weeks, significantly lagging behind Dow’s 66 bps uptick over the past six months and 8.1% gains over the past year.
To confirm the downturn, Clorox has traded consistently below its 50-day moving average since mid-December last year and its 200-day moving average since earlier this month.
Clorox’s stock prices dropped 7.2% in the trading session after the release of its disappointing Q4 results on Feb. 3. Due to a double-digit drop in sales across all its segments and a 9% decline in organic revenues, the company’s overall topline decreased 15.3% year-over-year to $1.7 billion. Meanwhile, the company observed a slight improvement in gross margin due to a decrease in COGS. However, Clorox failed to convert these gains into bottom-line improvements. Due to higher advertising and other operating expenses, the company’s adjusted EBIT margin contracted 409 bps compared to the year-ago quarter to 15.3% and its adjusted EBIT decreased 33.2% year-over-year to $258 million.
Furthermore, Clorox has also underperformed its peer Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s (KMB) 1.8% dip over the past six months and 10.7% surge over the past 52-week period.
Among the 20 analysts covering the CLX stock, the consensus rating is a “Hold.” Its mean price target of $161.50 suggests a 13% upside potential from current price levels.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
