Colgate-Palmolive India shares decline as operating struggles continue in Q2; Analysts divided

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd. declined nearly 4% in trade on Friday, October 24, as analysts expressed divergent views after the company reported a weak second quarter.

Brokerages Citi and ICICI Securities have a "sell" rating on the stock, CLSA has a "hold" rating, Nomura has a "reduce" rating, while Jefferies and Nuvama have a "buy" rating on the stock. The price targets ascribed by analysts project a downside of up to 22% to an upside of nearly 25%.

Here's a look at what analysts said:

Citi

Citi has a "sell" rating on the stock with a price target of ₹2,100 per share,  which implies a potential downside of 8.9% from its previous closing price of ₹2,300 apiece.

The competitive intensity and high base weighed on growth, the brokerage said. It expects gradual recovery in the second half of the financial year 2026 on easier macros and low unit price (LUP) benefits.

ICICI Securities

The brokerage has a "sell" call and a price target of ₹1,800 per share, a potential downside of 21.7% from its previous closing price.

It said Colgate's September quarter confirmed structural weakness and there were no visible triggers in place for a recovery.

The revenue declined 6.2%, while volumes were down between 7% to 8%. Innovation and premiumisation are yet to drive recovery, it said.

The analyst said the stock's valuation at 40 times its financial year 2027 estimated price-to-earnings leaves little room for upside.

CLSA

CLSA has a "hold" rating on the stock with a target of ₹2,130 per share, a downside of 7.4% from its previous close.

It said the company missed estimates across metrics, while margin expansion was offset by weak sales.

The brokerage has cut Colgate-Palmolive's earnings estimates by 4% as a result of this performance.

Nomura

Nomura has a "reduce" rating on Colgate with a target of ₹2,200 per share, a potential downside of 4.3%.

The brokerage only sees a minor recovery in the second half of the year, adding that the negative operating leverage limits operating profit margin expansion.

Jefferies

The brokerage has a "buy" rating on the stock with a target price of ₹2,700 per share, a potential upside of 17.4% from its previous close.

However, it has cut the company's Earnings Per Share (EPS) estimate by 4% to 5% and expects the stock to remain rangebound, until growth picks up.

Nuvama

The brokerage has a "buy" rating on the stock with a target of ₹2,870 per share, a potential upside of 24.8% from its previous close.

Of the 33 analysts that have coverage on the stock, 10 have a "buy" rating, 11 have a "hold" rating and 12 have a "sell" rating.

The stock was down 3.4% at ₹2,209.8 per share on Friday. It has declined 17.8% in the last six months.

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