Edgewell Personal Care’s fourth quarter was marked by a negative market response, as the company missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations and experienced a notable year-over-year sales decline. Management attributed the shortfall primarily to anticipated softness in international markets and shifting shipment patterns in Sun Care, while North America saw some early seasonal order activity. CEO Rod Little emphasized the impact of recently completed portfolio changes, stating, “This transaction is a pivotal step...to sharpen our focus on the categories where we have clear competitive advantages.”
Is now the time to buy EPC? Find out in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members).
Edgewell Personal Care (EPC) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $422.8 million vs analyst estimates of $478 million (1.9% year-on-year growth, 11.6% miss)
- Adjusted EPS: -$0.16 vs analyst estimates of -$0.16 (in line)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $28.1 million vs analyst estimates of $29.59 million (6.6% margin, 5% miss)
- Management lowered its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to $1.90 at the midpoint, a 19.1% decrease
- EBITDA guidance for the full year is $255 million at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $301.7 million
- Operating Margin: -4.5%, down from 2.2% in the same quarter last year
- Organic Revenue was flat year on year (beat)
- Market Capitalization: $1.02 billion
While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention.
Our Top 5 Analyst Questions From Edgewell Personal Care’s Q4 Earnings Call
- Nik Modi (RBC Capital Markets) pressed CEO Rod Little on portfolio strategy and long-term impacts of the feminine care divestiture. Little emphasized a focus on core categories and debt reduction, stating M&A would only occur if "super obvious and accretive."
- Chris Carey (Wells Fargo) asked about the timing and magnitude of portfolio transition costs. CFO Fran Weissman detailed the expected duration and mitigation from transitional service agreements, highlighting the timeline for overhead reductions.
- Peter Grom (UBS) sought clarity on category growth assumptions and share recovery. Little explained that second-half improvements would be driven by distribution gains and new product launches rather than changes in category growth rates.
- Olivia Tong (Raymond James) inquired about the rationale behind earlier Sun Care retail orders and the wider earnings guidance range. Management attributed early orders to favorable category trends and holiday timing, and cited portfolio transition as a cause for wider EPS guidance.
- Susan Anderson (Canaccord Genuity) questioned the persistence of high promotional activity in Wet Shave and inventory levels. Little noted intense competition in women’s razors and confirmed no significant inventory build-up or trade-down to private label.
Catalysts in Upcoming Quarters
In the coming quarters, our analysts will be closely watching (1) the pace of distribution gains and effectiveness of new product launches in core brands, (2) progress on supply chain and productivity initiatives to drive margin recovery, and (3) the execution of stranded cost reductions following the feminine care divestiture. The ability to manage category competition and realize international growth targets will also be important indicators of Edgewell’s strategic progress.
Edgewell Personal Care currently trades at $21.60, up from $20.75 just before the earnings. At this price, is it a buy or sell? Find out in our full research report (it’s free).
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