Procter & Gamble Company (The) (PG) Business Profile

What it does

Procter & Gamble, or P&G, creates, manufactures and sells branded products used in everyday life. Its range includes shampoo, razors, toothpaste, laundry detergent, diapers and other household and personal-care goods. It sells products through retailers and distributors as well as directly to consumers.

The business is organized into Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. Its brands include Head & Shoulders and Pantene in hair care, Gillette and Venus in razors, Crest and Oral-B in oral care, Tide and Downy in fabric care, and Pampers in baby care. Its products span different price tiers, from value to premium.

P&G develops new products and upgrades existing ones using research and consumer insights. It also invests in advertising, promotions and other brand communications to reach shoppers. Stores, digital commerce platforms and direct-to-consumer platforms make its products available to buyers.

P&G is headquartered in Cincinnati. Shailesh G. Jejurikar is its chairman, president and chief executive officer. As of June 30, 2026, P&G had approximately 104,000 employees.

How it makes money

P&G earns revenue by selling branded consumer products, primarily to retail customers that then sell them to shoppers. It also sells directly to consumers. Its portfolio consists of daily-use products, including consumables such as detergent, diapers and toothpaste, as well as appliances such as electric shavers.

Each segment covers several categories. Beauty includes hair, personal and skin care. Grooming includes blades, razors and appliances. Health Care includes oral care and personal health products such as respiratory treatments and digestive-wellness products. Fabric & Home Care includes laundry products, dishwashing products, surface cleaners and air fresheners. Baby, Feminine & Family Care includes diapers, wipes, menstrual care and adult incontinence products.

P&G sells across price tiers and uses different pack sizes and product offerings within brands. It invests in product performance, packaging, communication and retail execution, while using productivity improvements to help fund research, development and marketing. The company said it plans to raise prices alongside innovation and take time to recover higher commodity costs, while trying to preserve the balance between price and the product offered.

In fiscal Q1 2027, organic sales increased 4.00% versus the prior year.

Operating cash flow is P&G’s primary source of funding for operating needs and capital spending. The company says it first uses excess operating cash to fund dividends; other discretionary uses include share repurchases and acquisitions.

Customers and how it sells

P&G’s customers include mass merchandisers, grocery stores, membership clubs, drug stores, department stores, distributors, wholesalers and specialty beauty stores. Digital and social commerce channels are also customers, and P&G sells directly to consumers. Most products go through retail customers.

Walmart Inc. and its affiliates represented 16.0% of P&G’s revenue in FY2026. No other customer represented more than a tenth of total sales in 2026. The company’s relationships with retailers include negotiations over trade terms, pricing and how its products are presented and stocked.

P&G products are sold internationally, and the company has operations across numerous countries. Operations outside the United States generate more than half of annual net sales. Its reporting regions include North America, Europe, Greater China, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and India, Middle East and Africa.

In fiscal Q1 2027, organic sales grew in each of its regions. P&G said Pampers and SK-II led growth in Greater China, with Pampers benefiting from near-term competitive dynamics.

Suppliers and costs

P&G purchases almost all its raw and packaging materials from third parties. Some of those suppliers are single-source suppliers. P&G also produces certain raw materials, primarily chemicals, for use in its manufacturing processes. Fuel, natural gas and related products are important to manufacturing and to transporting materials and finished products.

Costs can change with commodity and raw-material prices, packaging, labor, transportation, energy and tariffs. P&G says it may or may not pass changes in material and commodity costs on to customers. Its cost-saving efforts include productivity projects and sourcing decisions.

In fiscal Q1 2027, productivity improvement was offset by commodity and freight costs and investment to build demand; core operating margin fell versus the prior year. P&G expects after-tax cost headwinds in fiscal 2027 from higher raw-material, energy and transportation costs and other premiums.

The company said its restructuring program includes a 15.0% reduction in non-manufacturing headcount and is beginning to affect results in fiscal 2027.

Competitive position

P&G competes with established and new consumer-products companies, both large and small, and with retailers’ private-label brands. Competition varies by category, geography, sales channel and price tier. Individual competing companies are not named.

P&G’s portfolio includes brands with reported market positions across several categories. The company reports global market leadership in grooming, primarily through Gillette and Venus in blades and razors, and a leading position in oral care behind Crest and Oral-B. It also reports global market leadership in fabric care in the markets where it competes, primarily through Tide, Ariel and Downy.

The company owns or has rights to trademarks and patents used across its businesses. Patents cover product features, formulations and manufacturing processes; trademarks support marketing and branding. P&G also invests in research, consumer insights and advertising, and distributes through physical stores and digital channels.

Our reading: Brands and product innovation provide a meaningful competitive position, supported by the company’s reported shares in several categories, although those positions must be defended against other brands and private labels. Our reading: Patents and trademarks add protection, but their importance differs by product and depends on continued enforcement. Our reading: Distribution and retailer relationships help P&G reach consumers, while retailers’ control over shelf space and trade terms limits that advantage.

Growth opportunities

P&G seeks growth through product innovation, brand communication, retail execution and reaching more users. Its sector business units set global brand strategy, product upgrades, marketing plans and supply-chain plans. The company also uses productivity improvements to fund investment in its brands and products.

In fiscal Q1 2027, organic sales increased 4.00% versus the prior year. Volume, pricing and mix contributed to growth. Each of P&G’s product categories grew organic sales. The company said some of its largest category-country combinations held or grew share in the fiscal year to date.

P&G has launched a mid-tier Baby Care upgrade and said it still has work to do in wipes and other parts of the portfolio. In China, it has changed its distributor network and marketing approach to reach shoppers through social selling and online retailers as well as physical stores. The company said its Olay business in China is being reinvented because it is not growing.

The company expects sales growth in fiscal 2027. P&G also said its acquisition of Thorne closed in early October and is included in its all-in GAAP outlook. Its outlook assumes current market growth rates, commodity prices and foreign exchange rates, and does not anticipate significant additional disruptions from several external risks.

Structural risks

Currency fluctuations can reduce the U.S. dollar value of overseas sales, earnings and cash flows or increase supply costs. Tariffs, trade controls, geopolitical conflicts and restrictions on moving money or goods can also affect operations.

Disruption to a sole supplier or manufacturing plant could interrupt product supply. Commodity, packaging, labor, energy and transportation costs fluctuate, and P&G’s results depend partly on its ability to manage those changes while maintaining margins and market share.

Customer concentration, buying alliances or disagreements over trade terms can create cost pressure or disruption. A major retailer could also reduce inventory or shelf space allocated to P&G products.

Local and global competitors, private labels, digital commerce and changing consumer preferences can affect demand. P&G must continue to innovate and respond to new products, channels and marketing practices.

Product quality or safety issues, recalls and damage to a brand’s reputation could hurt results. Cybersecurity incidents or failures at P&G or its service providers could interrupt operations, expose data and create remediation costs.

Bottom line

Our reading

Our reading: P&G is a branded consumer-products business built around daily-use categories, with established market positions and broad distribution supporting its ability to reach shoppers. [item1, item7] Its results also depend on defending those positions and retailer relationships while managing commodity costs, supply disruptions and currency exposure. [item1a] Recent organic growth shows progress across categories, but the company expects cost pressures to increase in coming quarters. [call_prepared]