Procter & Gamble Shares Edge Up Following Q4 Earnings Beat

Procter & Gamble Co. shares rose less than 1% in premarket on Thursday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that were above Wall Street expectations. Net income for the quarter came in at $2.22 billion, or 82 cents per share, compared to $1.95 billion, or 69 cents per share during the year earlier period. Adjusted earnings per share were 85 cents, above the FactSet earnings consensus of 78 cents. Procter & Gamble's revenue hit $16.08 billion during the quarter, down slightly from the $16. 10 billion the company reported during the same quarter a year ago, but ahead of FactSet's revenue consensus of $16.02 billion. For the full 2017, Procter & Gamble reported net sales of $65.1 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.92 per share, both above FactSet's consensus. The consumer goods company said it expects earnings to grow 5% to 7% in 2018, and that the first quarter of fiscal 2018 will likely be the lowest organic sales and per-sale earnings growth period of the year. Shares of Procter & Gamble have gained more than 6% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 11%.