Shares of Procter & Gamble Co. rallied 1.0% in premarket trading Friday, after the consumer products giant reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectations, with the strongest growth in its health care and beauty businesses. Net income for the quarter to June 30 rose to $2.91 billion, or $1.13 a share, from $2.80 billion, or $1.07 a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.09. Sales increased 7.1% to $18.95 billion, boosted by increases in shipment volume and pricing, to top the FactSet consensus of $18.40 billion. All of P&G’s business segments saw sales grow from a year ago, with sales up 18% in health care, 11% in beauty, 10% in grooming, 5% in fabric & home care and 1% in baby, feminine & family care. For fiscal 2022, the company expects adjusted EPS growth of 3% to 6% and sales to rise 2% to 4% from a year ago. The FactSet EPS consensus of $5.90 implies 4.2% growth and sales consensus of $78.22 billion implies 2.8% growth. The stock has gained 4.5% over the past three months through Thursday, while the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF has tacked on 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 3.6%.
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