Clorox Company (The)

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Clorox Company third quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings release conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will conduct a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, you may press star 1 on your touch-tone pad at any time. If anyone should require assistance during the conference, please press star 0 on your touch-tone pad at any time. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference call, Ms. Lisa Burhans, Vice President of Investor Relations for the Clorox Company. Ms. Burhans, you may begin.

Thanks, Jen. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. On the call with me today are Linda Rendell, our CEO, and Jason Jacobson, our CFO. I hope everyone has had a chance to review our earnings release and prepared remarks, both of which are available on our website. In just a moment, Linda will share a few opening comments, and then we'll take your questions. During this call, we may make forward-looking statements, including about fiscal year 2023 outlook. These statements are based on management's current expectations, but may differ from actual results or outcomes. In addition, we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the forward-looking statement section, which identifies various factors that could affect such forward-looking statements. which has been filed with the SEC. In addition, please refer to the non-GAAP financial information section of our earnings release and the supplemental financial schedule in the investor relations section of our website for reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. Now, I'll turn it over to Linda.

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We delivered strong results in the third quarter amid a challenging operating and cost environment. With organic sales growth in all four segments, growth margin expansion, and double-digit adjusted EPS growth. Our performance reflects solid execution by our team, the strength and resilience of our portfolio, the superior value of our brands, and the relevance of our Ignite strategy. Based on our strong performance, we're raising our fiscal year outlook. During the quarter, we made great progress rebuilding margin while maintaining top-line growth. Net sales grew above our long-term target, and we delivered our second consecutive quarter of growth margin improvement. supported by cost-justified pricing and decade-high cost savings. We also made further progress on our Ignite priorities, investing in our brands and innovation pipeline while advancing our digital transformation and streamlined operating models to create a stronger, more resilient company. While we're encouraged by our progress to date, we're relentlessly focused on controlling what we can to drive and appropriately balance both top line and bottom line growth. Looking ahead, we expect the operating environment to remain volatile and challenging. Despite recent moderation in pockets of input costs, overall inflationary headwinds continue to be strong. In light of this and ongoing macro uncertainty, we're watching consumer reactions very closely, given the potential for them to come under greater pressure, and we are prepared to adapt plans as necessary. Regardless, we have trusted brands and essential categories, which we continue to invest behind. I remain confident that our actions position us well to navigate this environment and deliver consistent, profitable growth over time.