# Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL) — Stock CV

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a $70.5B consumer staples company. Revenue grew 5.2% over the last year, it keeps 10¢ of every dollar of sales as profit, and its net debt equals ~1.4 years of free cash flow. It trades at 34.5× earnings — in the most expensive third of its own history.

> Since its founding in 1806, Colgate-Palmolive has grown into a leading player in the household and personal care industry.

## Identity

- **Ticker**: CL
- **Sector**: Consumer Defensive
- **Industry**: Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations
- **Headquarters**: NEW YORK, NY
- **Employees**: 33 600
- **Website**: https://www.colgatepalmolive.com
- **Market cap**: $70.5B
- **Last price**: $88.38
- **Financial profile**: Solid

## Vitals (TTM)

- **Revenue**: $21.0B
- **Net income**: $2.04B
- **Free cash flow**: $3.86B
- **Net debt**: $5.58B
- **P/E**: 34.5
- **Revenue growth (YoY)**: 5.2%

## Skills (profile scores, 0–100)

| Pillar | Score |
|---|---|
| Valuation | 57 |
| Growth | 31 |
| Profitability | 75 |
| Health | 67 |
| Quality | 90 |
| Moat | 93 |

## Qualifications (beginner checklist) — 11 of 11 passed

- [x] Revenue growing — +5.2% YoY
- [x] Profitable — $2.04B TTM
- [x] Profit growing — +7.3% YoY
- [x] Generates cash — $3.86B TTM
- [x] Debt under control — ~1.4y of cash flow to repay
- [x] Established company — $70.5B market cap
- [x] Not printing shares — -5.5% shares over ~5y
- [x] Proven track record — 10/10 profitable years
- [x] Financially stable — Altman Z 5.9 — safe
- [x] Pays a dividend — yield 2.59%
- [x] Valuation not extreme — P/E 34.5

## Experience (career milestones)

- **FY2024** — Best year on record: $2.89B net income
- **FY2016** — Profitable every year on record: 10 consecutive profitable years in our data
- **FY2016** — Revenue already above $10B: $15.2B in first reported year
- **FY2016** — Positive free cash flow every year since: 10-year streak
- **1953** — The companies became a joint venture, known as the Colgate-Palmolive Company
- **Jul 1, 1928** — The merger combined the three oldest and largest soap and perfumery companies in the US and became effective on July…
- **1927** — The combined pre-merger sales in 1927 of the three companies exceeded $100,000,000 ( )
- **1896** — Also in 1896, Colgate hired Martin Ittner and under his direction founded one of the first applied research labs
- **1896** — The company sold the first toothpaste in a tube, named Colgate Ribbon Dental Cream (invented by dentist…
- **1873** — The company introduced its first Colgate toothpaste, an aromatic toothpaste sold in jars
- **1872** — He introduced Cashmere Bouquet, a perfumed soap
- **1857** — Colgate died and the company was reorganized as Colgate & Company under the management of his similarly…

## Strengths

- High gross margin (60.4%)
- Strong cash conversion — FCF is 18.3% of revenue
- Could repay net debt from ~1.7 years of free cash flow
- Interest covered 18.8× by operating earnings
- High returns on invested capital (ROIC 37.8%)

## Watch-outs

- None stand out in the data.

## Track record

| Year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $17.4B | $2.17B | $2.76B |
| FY2022 | $18.0B | $1.78B | $1.86B |
| FY2023 | $19.5B | $2.30B | $3.04B |
| FY2024 | $20.1B | $2.89B | $3.55B |
| FY2025 | $20.4B | $2.13B | $3.63B |

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Source: https://stockcv.com/CL — derived from company filings; may be delayed or incomplete. Information, not investment advice.