Clorox Company (The)

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Corax Company quarterly and fiscal year 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 touchstone pad at any time. If anyone should require assistance during the conference, please press star 0 on your touchstone 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 Burhan, Vice President of Investor Relations for the Clorox Company. Ms. Burhan, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, Jen. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. On the call with me today are Linda Rendell, our Chair and CEO, and Kevin 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 our fiscal 2025 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 any such forward-looking statement 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. Thank you for joining us today. Our first quarter results were strong. Taking a step back, we entered fiscal 2025 in a position of operational strength. having fully restored supply, distribution, and the vast majority of market share from the August 2023 cyber attack. This quarter, we drove further progress as we fully restored overall market share, grew share in most of our categories, and delivered results above our expectations, while continuing to make progress against our strategy long-term value. Importantly, we continue to deliver on our commitment to rebuild margin, achieving our eighth consecutive quarter of gross margin expansion. Our holistic margin management capabilities continue to enhance our ability to fuel growth, and we remain on track to return to pre-pandemic gross margins this fiscal year while investing in our business. We also completed the development of our VMS business during the quarter. This follows the previous sale of our Argentina business and marks another important milestone in the evolution of our portfolio, which supports our goal to reduce volatility and drive more consistent and profitable growth over time. Looking ahead, we continue to see an uncertain macro environment where consumers remain under pressure and continue to seek value. Within this context and in the complexity of the recent years, our portfolio of trusted brands in everyday essential categories has remained strong and resilient. So during a time when it matters most, we are focused on delivering superior value to consumers and continuing to invest in our brands and innovation to win in the markets. We have strong fundamentals in place, and we remain laser-focused on advancing our transformation to be a stronger and more resilient company. Through these actions, we're making good progress in building a more consumer-obsessed, faster and leaner company that's well-positioned to deliver consistent and profitable growth. With that, Kevin and I will take your questions.