Church & Dwight Beats on Q3 Earnings

Church & Dwight Co. Inc.’s (CHD) third-quarter 2013 earnings per share of 76 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate (2.7% positive surprise)  by 2 cents. Moreover, the reported figure was 15.2% higher than 66 cents earned in the prior-year quarter.

Among other major consumer product companies, The Clorox Company (CLX) posted a positive earnings surprise of 4.0%.  On the other hand, Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) and Procter & Gamble Company’s (PG) reported bottom-line results that were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The top line for Church & Dwight improved 11.0% to $804.8 million due to robust performance of the acquired Avid gummy vitamin business. However, it missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $814 million. Organic sales increased 1.6% (within the expected range of 1%–2%), driven by 4.7% growth in volume, partially offset by a negative impact of 3.1% due to pricing and adverse product mix. Read more.