P&G’s Tech Bet Starts Showing Up in Sales

Procter & Gamble has spent years building its technology infrastructure. Its Q1 earnings call shows it is now deploying it.

The company posted its strongest broad-based quarter in recent memory, with every product category and every region gaining simultaneously. CEO Shailesh Jejurikar described it as solid acceleration, calling out broad-based growth as the defining characteristic of the quarter. The result reflected not just improved products but a structural shift in how the company is deploying data, automation and consumer insight together at scale.

P&G is scaling four capability layers across its business: data analytics tools for frontline teams, AI-powered content creation and distribution for marketing, a Molecular Discovery Suite for product innovation, and manufacturing automation including unattended shift operations now live across nine categories.

The unattended shift model is the clearest signal of how the operating model has changed. Factory teams previously running overnight shifts are being upskilled while automated systems run the line. CFO Andre Schulten described the program as proven and now being accelerated, with the goal of pulling forward the company’s longer-term automation vision in response to current cost pressures.

“It took years to build these underlying platforms and capabilities, and we are now in full scaling mode across the company,” Schulten said. “We will close the loop and we believe this will create a new S curve for growth value creation centered around our consumers.”

The consumer-facing impact is already measurable. Germany’s Pantene tripled total consumer reach while cutting media spend by a fifth, deploying social media, influencer partnerships and AI-powered content tools. Content value share rose in Germany year over year. The same data infrastructure is now compressing supplier diversification and reformulation work in response to Middle East disruptions from years into weeks.

What Else Stood Out on the Call

The Tide liquid upgrade, the biggest reformulation in 25 years on one of P&G’s largest businesses, is delivering mid-teens growth by giving consumers a better product at the same price. Schulten called it the clearest proof that the innovation model works.

Baby Care is gaining share in most global regions. The U.S. remains the exception. Schulten committed incremental investment and said the playbook is clear. China, where Baby Care is growing double digits with birth rates declining and the overall market negative, is the proof point.

P&G recorded a significant after-tax gain from the dissolution of its Glad joint venture with Clorox, which closed in January after the agreement expired. Clorox purchased P&G’s minority interest at fair market value.

The company raised its dividend for the seventieth consecutive year, continuing a streak that stretches back to its incorporation in 1890. P&G has now paid a dividend every year for over a century and a third.

Greater China grew organic sales in a market where volume is still negative across most channels. The only growth is online and Douyin. P&G said its brands are winning in both.

Topline Growth and Financials

P&G reported net sales of $21.2 billion for the third quarter, up 7% versus prior year, with organic sales up 3% driven by 2 points of volume and 1 point of pricing. Beauty led with 7% organic growth. Grooming grew 1%. Health Care rose 2%. Fabric and Home Care grew 3%. Baby, Feminine and Family Care grew 3%.

North America organic sales grew 4%, volume up 3 points. Europe rose 2%, Enterprise Markets up 6%. Greater China grew 3%. Latin America grew 5%, with Mexico and Brazil each up high single digits. Asia Pacific, Middle East Africa Enterprise grew 4%.