Colgate-Palmolive Shares Fall After Sales Miss

Colgate Palmolive Co. shares fell 1.8% in Thursday premarket trading after the company reported third-quarter sales that missed consensus. Net income was $702 million, or 78 cents per share, down from $726 million, or 80 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share totaled 73 cents, meeting the FactSet consensus. Revenue totaled $3.87 billion, down from $4.0 billion for the same period last year and below the FactSet consensus of $3.94 billion. The revenue decline was due to foreign currency headwinds and deconsolidation of the company's Venezuelan operations, said Chief Executive Ian Cook in a statement. The company still sees flat full-year earnings-per-share growth and sales down in the low-to-mid single digits. Colgate-Palmolive shares are up 7% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.7% for the same period.

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