✦ Beauty: Growth Bought With MarketingThin moat

Procter & Gamble (PG) — the future bets

Beauty grew volume 4% in fiscal 2026, the only P&G segment to do so, and earned less doing it.

Beauty was P&G's only segment to grow volume in fiscal 2026, and it shows both the promise and the cost of P&G's plan. Beauty volume rose 4% and organic sales 5%, and segment sales rose 7% to $16,023 million1. Yet Beauty net earnings fell to $2,672 million from $2,715 million, and its net margin fell 140 basis points to 16.7%2.

Beauty, June 2026 quarter vs a year earlier (%)+6%Net sales+4%Organic sales-19%Net earningsP&G Q4 FY2026 earnings release, segment results
Sales up, profit down sharply.

In the June 2026 quarter the gap widened: Beauty sales rose 6% while net earnings fell 19%3. Across the company, P&G reinvested 410 basis points of sales in that quarter, primarily in marketing, against 300 basis points of SG&A productivity4, and marketing rose 80 basis points as a share of sales for the year5.

This is the bet in its purest form: spend now to win share, and let scale restore the margin later. It works if the share gained is kept. Beauty's segment share still fell 0.3 points in fiscal 2026, with hair care down 0.5 and skin care down 0.66, so the spending has so far bought volume without share.

Personal care, with brands such as Native, Old Spice and Secret, is where P&G says it holds the number two position with about 20% share7, and personal care rose to 6% of net sales from 5% in fiscal 20248.

The fiscal 2025 result shows the alternative. Beauty sales fell 2% that year, with volume up 1%, currency down 1 point, price up 2 and mix down 29. Without the extra marketing, Beauty was a shrinking segment; with it, a growing one that earns less.

It is a bet that has worked on sales and not yet on profit. Beauty volume growth, 4% in fiscal 202610, is the number; if it holds while Beauty net earnings start rising again in fiscal 2027, the marketing bet will have been worth it.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Volume +4%, sales +7%, net earnings -1.6% in FY2026; Q4 net earnings -19%.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Beauty volume growth, FY2026
+4% (organic +5%)

Whether marketing spend is buying growth; continued volume with recovering earnings would vindicate it.

Source: P&G Form 10-K, FY2026 ↗
References
  1. ReportedBeauty volume rose 4% and organic sales 5%, and segment sales rose 7% to $16,023 million.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 June 2026) - Item 7 MD&A: net sales drivers, organic sales and gross margin bridge. — FY2026 · publ. 4 August 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedYet Beauty net earnings fell to $2,672 million from $2,715 million, and its net margin fell 140 basis points to 16.7%.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 June 2026) - Note 2 segment information: net sales, earnings before tax, net earnings, margins, capital spending and depreciation by segment. — FY2026 · publ. 4 August 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIn the June 2026 quarter the gap widened: Beauty sales rose 6% while net earnings fell 19%.
    Procter & Gamble fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1, with fiscal 2027 guidance - segment results for the quarter and fiscal year. — Q4 FY2026 · publ. 29 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedAcross the company, P&G reinvested 410 basis points of sales in that quarter, primarily in marketing, against 300 basis points of SG&A productivity, and marketing rose 80 basis points as a share of sales for the year.
    Procter & Gamble fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1, with fiscal 2027 guidance - quarterly and fiscal-year headline results and cash flow. — Q4 FY2026 · publ. 29 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedAcross the company, P&G reinvested 410 basis points of sales in that quarter, primarily in marketing, against 300 basis points of SG&A productivity, and marketing rose 80 basis points as a share of sales for the year.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 June 2026) - Item 7 MD&A: net sales drivers, organic sales and gross margin bridge. — FY2026 · publ. 4 August 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedBeauty's segment share still fell 0.3 points in fiscal 2026, with hair care down 0.5 and skin care down 0.6, so the spending has so far bought volume without share.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 June 2026) - Item 7 MD&A and segment note: segment contents, operating segments and shares of net sales and net earnings. — FY2026 · publ. 4 August 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedPersonal care, with brands such as Native, Old Spice and Secret, is where P&G says it holds the number two position with about 20% share, and personal care rose to 6% of net sales from 5% in fiscal 2024.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 June 2026) - Item 7 MD&A: market shares and competitive activity by category. — FY2026 · publ. 4 August 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedPersonal care, with brands such as Native, Old Spice and Secret, is where P&G says it holds the number two position with about 20% share, and personal care rose to 6% of net sales from 5% in fiscal 2024.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 June 2026) - Item 7 MD&A: market shares and competitive activity by category. — FY2026 · publ. 4 August 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedBeauty sales fell 2% that year, with volume up 1%, currency down 1 point, price up 2 and mix down 2.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - segment results for fiscal 2023, net sales drivers, Walmart share, top-ten customers and debt at June 2024 and 2025. — FY2025 · publ. August 2025 · source ↗
  10. ReportedBeauty volume growth, 4% in fiscal 2026, is the number; if it holds while Beauty net earnings start rising again in fiscal 2027, the marketing bet will have been worth it.
    Procter & Gamble Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 June 2026) - Item 7 MD&A: net sales drivers, organic sales and gross margin bridge. — FY2026 · publ. 4 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 26, 2026