Colgate Palmolive India Shares Fall Over 3% After Q4 Profit Decline; Brokerages Maintain ‘Sell'

Shares of Colgate Palmolive (India) dropped more than 3% in intraday trade on Monday after the FMCG major reported a marginal decline in net profit for the fourth quarter of FY26.

The stock fell as much as 3.3% to an intraday low of Rs. 2,080.60 on the NSE after the company announced its Q4 FY26 earnings on Friday, May 22. Colgate-Palmolive India shares had opened slightly higher than the previous closing price of Rs. 2,156 per share before seeing sharp selling pressure during morning trade.

As of 10:30 AM Colgate Palmolive India shares were trading at Rs. 2,119.40 down by 1.74% after recovering early losses

Colgate Palmolive India Q4 FY26 Results

Colgate Palmolive India reported a marginal 0.47% year-on-year decline in standalone net profit to Rs. 353.32 crore in the March quarter of FY26, compared to Rs. 355 crore posted during the same quarter last year.

Despite the slight decline in profit, the company's revenue from operations rose 9% year-on-year to Rs. 1,582.77 crore in Q4 FY26, due to strong demand and improved sales in the oral care segment.

Profit before tax (PBT) also saw a marginal decline of 0.75% to Rs. 474.03 crore, compared to Rs. 477.62 crore reported in Q4 FY25.

Meanwhile, total expenses surged sharply by 20.68% to Rs. 1,211.61 crore during the quarter, against Rs. 1,003.95 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

For the full financial year FY26, Colgate-Palmolive India reported a net profit of Rs. 1,325 crore, lower than Rs. 1,437 crore recorded in FY25.

Colgate-Palmolive India Announces Dividend

Along with the earnings announcement, the company's board declared a second interim dividend of Rs. 24 per equity share with a face value of Re. 1 each.

The total dividend payout for shareholders is expected to be around Rs. 653 crore. The dividend will be paid on or after June 17, 2026, to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as of June 1, 2026. Including the latest payout, the total dividend declared by Colgate-Palmolive India for FY26 now stands at Rs. 48 per equity share.

Goldman Sachs, Citi Maintain 'Sell' Rating

Global brokerage firms Goldman Sachs and Citi maintained their "Sell" ratings on Colgate-Palmolive India despite slightly increasing their target prices after the Q4 earnings announcement.

Goldman Sachs raised its target price to Rs. 2,000 from Rs. 1,925 earlier, while Citi increased its target price to Rs. 2,050 from Rs. 2,000.

Both brokerages highlighted that the company's Q4 revenue growth rebounded to nearly 9% year-on-year, due to balanced volume growth, pricing gains, and continued premiumisation in the oral care portfolio.

However, the firms also pointed out that EBITDA margins contracted nearly 210 basis points year-on-year to 31.9% due to higher advertising expenditure and GST-related pressures.

Citi noted that rural demand trends continue to outperform urban markets, while Goldman Sachs said premium products contributed major to revenue growth during the quarter.

Despite the recovery in growth and revised FY27-FY28 earnings estimates, both brokerages remain cautious over the company's margin pressures and valuation outlook.

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