Hill’s Pet Nutrition continues to be one of the standout performers inside Colgate-Palmolive’s broader business, posting solid growth for the second quarter of 2026 even as one of its flagship product lines shows signs of strain.
The pet food division reported net sales of $1.2 billion (€1 billion) for Q2 2026, up 3.4 percent year-over-year. Organic sales grew 2.1 percent, despite absorbing a negative 2 percent impact from the company’s ongoing exit from its private label pet food business. The pet segment now accounts for 22 percent of Colgate-Palmolive’s total revenue, underscoring just how central Hill’s has become to the parent company’s overall performance.
Profit Grows, But Margins Tighten Slightly
Operating profit for the pet business rose 2 percent year-over-year to $269 million (€237 million). However, the operating profit margin dipped slightly, falling 40 basis points to 22.5 percent — a modest but notable shift worth watching as the company continues investing in growth initiatives.
E-Commerce and Prescription Diet Lead the Charge
According to the company, this quarter’s growth was driven primarily by strong e-commerce performance and omnichannel activations supporting Hill’s Prescription Diet.
Colgate-Palmolive Chairman, President, and CEO Noel Wallace was candid about where the business is seeing softness. “We grew in all segments across the business that we’re focused on, except for Science Diet dog, where we’ve talked about the migration to small pets and large pets certainly deteriorating in terms of their ownership,” Wallace told investors.
A New Product Launch Aimed at the Fresh Food Trend
Between April and May, Hill’s began the phased rollout of Hill’s Science Diet Single Protein dog food, its newest entry into the fast-growing fresh pet food segment. The launch builds directly on the company’s recent acquisition of Australian pet food maker Prime100, positioning Hill’s to compete more directly in a category increasingly popular among pet owners seeking simpler, more transparent ingredient lists.
Strong First-Half Performance
Zooming out to the first half of 2026, Hill’s delivered net sales growth of 5 percent year-over-year, reaching $2.4 billion (€2.1 billion), while operating profit climbed 5 percent to $549 million (€483 million).
Wallace credited sustained investment in advertising and continued e-commerce momentum for driving that first-half performance, pointing specifically to strong results from online-only retailers and a notable boost during Amazon Prime Day. The company’s international business also delivered mid-single-digit growth over the same period. Wallace confirmed Hill’s plans to keep investing in advertising through the second half of the year as it works to accelerate overall category growth.
How Hill’s Fits Into Colgate-Palmolive’s Bigger Picture
Colgate-Palmolive as a whole reported global net sales of $5.3 billion (€4.7 billion) for Q2, up 4.9 percent year-over-year, with organic sales rising 2.4 percent. Net income, however, declined 6.7 percent year-over-year to $693 million (€610 million).
Performance strengthened across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific during the quarter, and Wallace specifically singled out Hill’s Pet Nutrition as one of the company’s strongest-performing businesses in the period — a clear signal of how much weight the pet division now carries within Colgate-Palmolive’s broader portfolio.
What’s Next for Guidance
Looking ahead to the rest of fiscal year 2026, Colgate-Palmolive maintained its forecast for net sales growth between 2 and 6 percent, including a modest positive boost expected from foreign exchange. The company also reaffirmed its organic sales growth outlook of 1 to 4 percent, a figure that accounts for the ongoing impact of its private label pet food exit.
Notably, the company now expects its statutory gross profit margin to remain roughly flat for the year, an improvement from its previous guidance, which had anticipated a decline.
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