Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) reported fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations despite ongoing challenges in its vitamin business, pushing shares up about 4% intraday.
The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.86, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84. Revenue totaled $1.64 billion, in line with expectations and up 3.9% year over year. Organic sales increased 0.7%, improving to 1.8% when excluding the recently divested vitamin business.
Adjusted gross margin expanded 90 basis points to 45.5%, significantly outperforming expectations. The margin improvement was driven by productivity initiatives, higher volumes, and a favorable product mix, which more than offset inflationary and tariff-related pressures.
Church & Dwight completed the sale of its vitamin brands VITAFUSION and L’IL CRITTERS to Piping Rock on December 31, recording a one-time after-tax charge of $45.6 million. The company’s board approved a 4.2% increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.3075 per share, marking the 30th consecutive year of dividend growth.
For 2026, the company forecast organic sales growth of 3% to 4% and adjusted EPS growth of 5% to 8%. For the first quarter of 2026, Church & Dwight projected organic sales growth of approximately 3% and adjusted EPS of $0.92, slightly higher than the prior year.
