Margin moderation may cap upsides for Colgate

After gaining over 15 per cent in the first half of the week, the stock of oral care major Colgate-Palmolive (India) has shed about a third of those gains.

- RAM PRASAD SAHU

While the company has been an outlier in the consumer space, given a robust September quarter performance, brokerages believe that upsides could be capped on the back of moderating volume, margins, and steep valuations.

Its September quarter (Q2FY25) results were better than peers in the consumer space, helped by the high single-digit volume growth in the toothpaste segment and a double-digit revenue growth in the toothbrush segment.

The gains were on the back of new launches, premiumisation, a favourable base, and advertising campaigns.

Volumes have been on an upward trend over the last few quarters.

Abhijeet Kundu and Dhiraj Mistry of Antique Stock Broking say, "Over the last six quarters, Colgate has been able to deliver strong performance on the back of management initiatives for improving product assortment with the help of technology and higher advertising spends/promotions to increase consumer awareness and preferences."