By Connor Hart

Colgate-Palmolive said inflation, trade uncertainty and consumer wariness continue to weigh on sales and profit across the consumer-goods sector.

The maker of Ajax and Softsoap said Friday that companywide volumes fell 1.5% during the latest quarter, as consumers reined in purchases and sought to stretch the lifespan of household staples.

"Consumers are exhibiting behavior consistent with purchasing around paycheck cycles," Colgate-Palmolive Chief Executive Noel Wallace said Friday. He added that such behavior has prompted packaged-goods makers to boost promotions, helping offset higher prices across the industry.

The pullback is most apparent among the company's value-oriented and midpriced brands, Wallace said. "In the U.S., we still see the premium and super premium growing very, very nicely."

Colgate-Palmolive said prices across its portfolio were up 2.3% from a year earlier, offsetting lower volumes and boosting sales. Profit was roughly flat from the prior year.

To combat ongoing headwinds, Wallace said the company is leaning on innovation and AI-driven productivity improvements, emphasizing faster product development, digital marketing and automation to improve efficiency and responsiveness to consumer demand.

At the same time, the company's new productivity plan aims to streamline operations and reduce costs, helping fund investments in areas such as data analytics and emerging markets, which now represent about half of the company's sales. Wallace said these efforts should help position Colgate-Palmolive for stronger growth in 2026, as inflation eases and category trends stabilize.

For the remainder of this year, however, the New York company lowered its organic sales outlook to up 1% to 2%, compared with a prior outlook for growth at the low end of a 2%-to-4% range. It backed its full-year outlook for net sales to be up in the low-single digits.

Shares ebbed 1.4%, to $75.12, extending their more-than-16% decline so far this year.

For the third quarter, Colgate-Palmolive posted a profit of $735 million, or 91 cents a share, compared with $737 million, or 90 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings were still 91 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 89 cents a share.

Sales rose 1.9% to $5.13 billion, in line with Wall Street models. On an organic basis, sales edged 0.4% higher.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2025 11:29 ET (15:29 GMT)

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