Shares of Clorox (CLX -0.69%) rose 5.6% on Friday after the consumer products giant announced strong quarterly results.
Clorox cleans up with rebuilt inventories
For its fiscal second-quarter 2024 ended Dec. 31, 2023, Clorox saw net sales climb 16% year over year to $1.99 billion, while adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings more than doubled to $2.16 per share. Analysts, on average, were only expecting earnings of $1.10 per share on revenue of $1.80 billion.
Underlying Clorox's outsized growth was a combination of favorable price mix and higher volumes as the company rebuilt customer inventories following a widely publicized cyberattack that targeted the company last August.
"We are rebuilding retailer inventories ahead of schedule, enabling us to return to merchandising and restore distribution," added Clorox Chair and CEO Linda Rendle. "While there is still more work to do, we're focused on executing with excellence in what remains a challenging environment to drive top-line growth and rebuild margin."
What's next for Clorox investors?
For the full fiscal-year 2024, Clorox also raised its outlook to call for net sales to be down in the low-single-digit percent range -- improved from its previous guidance for a mid- to high-single-digit drop. Clorox now sees full-year adjusted earnings per share of between $5.30 and $5.50, up from previous guidance of between $4.30 and $4.80 per share.
All told, this was a straightforward beat and raise that gave bullish investors plenty to celebrate. Clorox stock is responding in kind today.
