Colgate-Palmolive vs Kimberly-Clark
Colgate-Palmolive reported revenue of $20.4 billion in fiscal 2025, 1.2 times Kimberly-Clark's $16.4 billion in fiscal 2025. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue grew 1.4% in its latest year, and Kimberly-Clark's fell 2.1%. Colgate-Palmolive had an operating margin of 16.2%, against 14.3% at Kimberly-Clark. Free cash flow was $3.6 billion at Colgate-Palmolive and $1.6 billion at Kimberly-Clark.
Side by side
| Colgate-Palmolive | Kimberly-Clark | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $20.4B | $16.4B |
| Revenue growth | 1.4% | −2.1% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 4.4% | −3.0% |
| Gross margin | 60.1% | 36.0% |
| Operating margin | 16.2% | 14.3% |
| Net margin | 10.5% | 12.3% |
| Free cash flow | $3.6B | $1.6B |
| Free cash flow margin | 17.8% | 10.0% |
| Return on capital | 37.3% | 21.5% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.6x | 2.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $3.0B | $1.8B |
| Change in diluted share count | −1.5% | −1.1% |
| Last close | $93.10 | $109.63 |
| P/E at the last close | 36.8× | 18.6× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $57.1 million | bought $1.0 million, sold $1.0 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
Colgate-PalmoliveKimberly-Clark
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
Colgate-PalmoliveKimberly-Clark
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
Colgate-PalmoliveKimberly-Clark
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Colgate-Palmolive and Kimberly-Clark pages.