CL Colgate-Palmolive margins

  1. Stocks
  2. Consumer Defensive
  3. NYSE: CL
  4. Margins
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Relative Growth: Rel. Growth: 40
Relative Strength: Rel. Strength: 47
Relative Valuation: Rel. Valuation: 34
Relative Profitability: Rel. Profitability: 77
Gross margin
60.4%
Operating margin
14.9%
EBITDA margin
17.7%
Net margin
9.7%

Recent Colgate-Palmolive shows a gross margin of 60.4%, an operating margin of 14.9%, an EBITDA margin of 17.7%, and a net margin of 9.7%. All available margins contracted year over year, led by operating margin with a decline of 6.5 percentage points.

CL margin history

Gross, operating, EBITDA and net margin trends

Over the last 3 years, Colgate-Palmolive's margins averaged 59.74% gross, 19.34% operating, 21.3% EBITDA, and 12.49% net. Currently, gross margin is above its three-year average, while operating, EBITDA, and net margins are below their three-year averages.

CL margin expansion

Year-over-year margin changes in percentage points

The biggest contraction was in operating margin, which fell by 6.5 percentage points. The other available margins also declined.

Gross margin expansion
-0.2pp
Operating margin expansion
-6.5pp
EBITDA margin expansion
-5.6pp
Net margin expansion
-4.8pp

CL Gross margin

Colgate-Palmolive recorded an average gross margin of 59.74% across the last 3 years. Colgate-Palmolive currently reports a gross margin of 60.4%, 0.7 percentage points above its three-year average. Over the last 3 years, Colgate-Palmolive's gross margin peaked at 60.7% in Mar 2025 and reached a low of 57.2% in Sep 2023.

CL Operating margin

Across the last 3 years, Colgate-Palmolive recorded an average operating margin of 19.34%. Colgate-Palmolive's current operating margin is 14.9% and is 4.4 percentage points below its three-year average. The highest operating margin for Colgate-Palmolive was 21.5% in Mar 2025, while the lowest was 14.9% in Jun 2026.

CL EBITDA margin

The average EBITDA margin for Colgate-Palmolive was 21.3% over the last 3 years. The current EBITDA margin of 17.7% is 3.6 percentage points below its three-year average. The EBITDA margin for Colgate-Palmolive moved between 16.6% in Sep 2023 and 23.6% in Sep 2024.

CL Net margin

Across the last 3 years, Colgate-Palmolive recorded an average net margin of 12.49%. Colgate-Palmolive's current net margin is 9.7% and is 2.8 percentage points below its three-year average. The highest net margin for Colgate-Palmolive was 14.5% in Sep 2025, while the lowest was 8.3% in Sep 2023.

CL margin group comparison

Margins compared with peer-group, industry and sector averages

With a gross margin of 60.4%, CL ranks higher than the Consumer Defensive sector, the industry and its peers average. In comparison with the Consumer Defensive sector average of 36.6%, Colgate-Palmolive's gross margin is 65% higher.

CL margin peer comparison

Compare margins with selected peers

Frequently asked questions

What is Colgate-Palmolive's gross margin?

As of Jun 30, 2026, CL has a gross margin of 60.4%.

What is Colgate-Palmolive's operating margin?

The current operating margin for CL is 14.9% as of Jun 30, 2026.

What is Colgate-Palmolive's EBITDA margin?

For the period ending Jun 30, 2026, CL recorded an EBITDA margin of 17.7%.

What is Colgate-Palmolive's net margin?

As of Jun 30, 2026, CL has a net margin of 9.7%.

What are the average margins of CL?

Colgate-Palmolive's average margins over the last 3 years were 59.7% gross, 19.3% operating, 21.3% EBITDA, and 12.5% net.

What are the highest historical margins of CL?

Colgate-Palmolive's highest recorded margins during the past 5 years were 60.7% gross in Mar 2025, 22.7% operating in Sep 2021, 24.5% EBITDA in Sep 2021, and 15.4% net in Sep 2021.

What are the lowest historical margins of CL?

In the last 5 years, the lowest margins reported by CL were 56.6% gross in Mar 2023, 14.9% operating in Jun 2026, 16.2% EBITDA in Mar 2023, and 8% net in Jun 2023.