adminClorox Co. shares climbed 6.7% in extended trading Thursday amid the bleach and cleaning products maker’s rebound from last year’s cybersecurity attack that caused widescale disruption to its operations.
The company reported fiscal second-quarter sales of $1.99 billion, a 16% increase from $1.715 billion in the same period last year. Clorox
CLX,
said that the increase was driven largely by higher volume as the company rebuilt customer inventories following the cybersecurity attack as well as a favorable price mix, partially offset by unfavorable foreign-exchange rates.
The August 2023 cybersecurity attack prompted the company to slash its outlook last year.
But on Thursday, Clorox said its recovery plan is ahead of schedule. “Our second-quarter results reflect strong execution on our recovery plan from the August cyberattack,” Chief Executive Linda Rendle said in a statement. “We are rebuilding retailer inventories ahead of schedule, enabling us to return to merchandising and restore distribution.”
Clorox posted net income of $93 million, or 75 cents a share, compared with $99 million, or 80 cents a share, in the prior year’s quarter. On an adjusted basis, Clorox earned $2.16 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for adjusted earnings of $1.09 a share and sales of $1.8 billion.
The company also updated its full-year outlook, with sales now expected to be down by low single digits, compared to the previous expectation of net sales down by mid- to high single digits. Clorox said this reflects the progress the company made in its second quarter, as well as higher expectations for the second half of the fiscal year, partially offset by 5 points of unfavorable foreign-exchange rates primarily due to the devaluation of the Argentine peso.
Related: Clorox expects August’s cybersecurity attack to have a ‘material’ impact on first-quarter results
Full-year earnings are now expected to be between $3.06 and $3.26 a share, compared to the company’s previous forecast between $2.10 and $2.60 a share. Full-year adjusted earnings are expected to be between $5.30 and $5.50, up from the prior forecast of between $4.30 and $4.80. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are looking for full-year adjusted earnings of $4.60 a share.
Clorox shares have risen 5% in the past 52 weeks, compared with the S&P 500 index’s
SPX
gain of 17.4%.
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