MW Clorox sees weaker sales ahead as consumers have changed these shopping habits

By Claudia Assis

'Slowdowns' to persist in the current quarter, Clorox says

Clorox Co. late Monday unveiled lower quarterly sales than Wall Street expected and dialed down expectations for 2025 sales, saying that economic uncertainty is leading some people to change their shopping habits.

"Heightened" economic uncertainty drove such changes, "resulting in temporary category slowdowns and lower sales," Chief Executive Linda Rendle said.

What's more, the company, maker of its eponymous cleaning products as well as a host of other consumer goods, sees the slowdowns continuing in the current quarter.

"Despite this, our fundamentals remain strong as we held overall market shares and continued to expand margin while investing in our trusted brands," Rendle said in a statement.

Clorox's $(CLX)$ fiscal third-quarter sales dropped 8% to $1.67 billion, missing expectations of $1.72 billion in sales for the quarter.

The company earned an adjusted profit of $1.45 a share, which was also a miss - 15% lower than the $1.71 a share in the year-ago quarter and compared with consensus for $1.55 a share, according to FactSet.

Sales from its health and wellness business, which includes cleaning and professional products, rose 3%, thanks mostly to increased consumption in cleaning products, the company said.

Sales from its household business, however, which include plastic bags, cat litter and grilling brands, fell 11%.

"Lower volume was driven mainly by lower consumption," as well as timing issues with shipments of the Kingsford brand and promotions and inventory adjustments for the kitty-litter brands, Clorox said.

Sales from its lifestyle unit, which include Burt's Bees personal-care products, fell 3% in the quarter, also mostly dues to lower consumption, the company said.

Clorox called for 2025 net sales in a range of down 1% to flat. In February, the company forecast a range of down 1% to up 2%.

Adjusted per-share profit for the year is expected to be between $6.95 and $7.35, unchanged from the February update, but "there are puts and takes," the company said.

-Claudia Assis

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May 05, 2025 17:11 ET (21:11 GMT)

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