Clorox Co. shares CLX, +0.17% tumbled 7% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the consumer goods company missed estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter and said it expects earnings and margins to shrink again in fiscal 2022. The company posted net income of $97 million, or 78 cents a share, for the quarter to June 30, after income of $310 million, or $2.41 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 95 cents, well below the $1.32 FactSet consensus. Sales fell to s$1.802 billion from $1.983 billion a year earlier, also below the $1.906 billion FactSet consensus. “Fiscal year 2021 was an extraordinary year for Clorox, with the pandemic putting us through the test of volatility, including rapid changes in consumer demand and inflationary pressure, which is reflected in our fourth quarter results,” CEO Linda Rendle said in a statement. Sales fell at 2 of the company’s 3 businesses, due to lower shipments of cleaning and disinfecting products in the retail and professional channels as consumer demand diminished. Sales of household goods fell 8% and lifestyle goods fell 3%. The company is now expecting fiscal 2022 sales to fall 2% to 6% and for adjusted EPS to fall 26% to 21% to a range of $5.40 to $5.70. The company is expecting to invest about $500 million over the next five years to improve its digital capabilities and enhance productivity. Shares have fallen 10% in the year through Monday, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.18% has gained 16.8%.
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