When we first wrote about Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) on March 26, the stock traded near $85. On October 27 it closed at $92.17, up 8%, and shareholders collected two $0.53 dividends along the way.
We think there's more left. Ziggma's trailing price-to-earnings ratio reads about 31x, but it still carries a one-time $794 million write-down from late 2025. Strip that out and investors pay 23.8x this year's expected earnings, well below Colgate's five-year average of 29.7x. If earnings reach about $4.10 a share next year and the market pays 27x, the stock is worth about $110, roughly 20% above today.
GoodStocks is Ziggma's research series on companies where shareholder returns and real-world impact line up, a pairing a growing body of evidence links to outperformance. Colgate still qualifies. It developed the first recyclable toothpaste tube, shares the design with rivals, and its school brushing program has reached about 1.8 billion children and their families since 1991.
Source: Ziggma
Colgate turned 21.2% of sales into operating cash over the past 12 months, its best level in five years, and earns a Profitability sub-score of 97. Underlying earnings per share grew 8% last quarter and management raised its outlook in July. That's a lot of quality for 23.8x earnings.
About 98% of Colgate's toothpaste products now come in its recyclable tube, and 96% of its packaging was recyclable, reusable or compostable at the end of 2025. Sustainable Resource Use is its best impact sub-score at 78.
Colgate-Palmolive sells everyday basics in more than 200 countries: Colgate, elmex and Tom's of Maine in oral care, Palmolive and Irish Spring in personal care, Ajax and Fabuloso in home care, and Hill's Science Diet and Prescription Diet pet food. A small skin health unit includes EltaMD, PCA SKIN and Filorga.
The moat is habit. Colgate held 41.3% of the global toothpaste market and 32.4% of manual toothbrushes in 2025, according to the company. The trade-off is slow growth. Organic sales, which exclude currency and acquisitions, rose 1.4% in 2025, and management expects 1–4% this year.
Revenue has grown 3.2% a year over five years and 5.2% over the past 12 months. Operations generated a record $4.2 billion of cash in 2025, and Colgate returned $2.9 billion through dividends and buybacks.
In late 2025 Colgate took a non-cash, after-tax charge of $794 million on its skin health business, mainly Filorga, citing slower category growth and weak sales in China. No cash left the company.
That charge cut reported 2025 earnings per share 25% to $2.63. Excluding it, earnings rose 3% to $3.69. Analysts expect about $3.87 this year: 47% above the reported figure, but only about 5% above the underlying one, in line with management's guidance. Only $51 million of skin health goodwill is left, so a repeat hit of that size can't happen.
Ziggma's long-term price-to-earnings chart showed 30.72x on October 20. That still includes the write-down quarter, when Colgate reported a $0.05 per-share loss. The quarter drops out in late January. On this year's expected earnings, the multiple is about 24x.
Source: Ziggma
Investors paid 30x–38x for most of 2023 and 2024. A Valuation sub-score of 42 says Colgate isn't cheap next to consumer goods peers. Against its own history, it is.
The Ziggma Score is 64, top 10 in consumer goods. Profitability (97) carries it. Growth scores 58 and Financial Health 55. Debt is a manageable 1.7x yearly operating profit before depreciation, and profit covers interest 12x.
Price increases and emerging markets do most of the work, helped by premium launches like Optic White Pro Series at $9.99 a tube. A restructuring program cost $0.13 a share in the June quarter. Third-quarter results arrive October 30.
Organic growth of 2.4% last quarter means price is doing more work than volume. Oil-based packaging and ingredient costs can squeeze margins. Emerging markets bring currency swings. Skin health is still struggling.
The average analyst target of $100 implies 8% upside. At 27x next year's earnings, our target is about $110, roughly 20% upside, plus a 2.3% dividend yield.
Colgate's Impact Score is 72, rated Positive and top 10 in consumer goods, where Ecolab leads at 91.
Most toothpaste tubes mix plastic and aluminum layers that recyclers can't separate. Colgate launched a recyclable tube in 2019 and moved about 98% of its toothpaste products to it by the end of 2025. It shares the design because, by Colgate's count, the industry sells about 20 billion tubes a year. The catch: many local programs don't accept tubes yet. Ziggma scores Sustainable Water Use at 88, while waste recycling (36%) and renewables (6% of total energy) score in the 30s.
Bright Smiles, Bright Futures has taught children to brush since 1991. Inside the company, Fair Labor scores 72. Employees rate Colgate 4.2 out of 5, and gender equality scores 90. CEO pay at 314x the median worker scores just 2, the same weak spot we flagged in our TJX update.
Climate Action scores 46. The emissions path fits 1.5°C of warming and carbon intensity fell 21%, but emissions per dollar of sales still score 0. Accountability also scores 46, held back by a Peace & Justice score of 31 even with privacy at 80.
The 2025 earnings drop was a paper loss on a skincare brand, and once it leaves the numbers, the stock looks about 20% too cheap. You also own the company that made toothpaste tubes recyclable. Compare it with other top scorers in our free stock screener, or see how e.l.f. Beauty handled a similar accounting distortion.
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