Hill’s grows in Q2 despite Science Diet dog food slowdown

Hill’s Pet Nutrition, the pet food division of Colgate-Palmolive, posted a 3.4% year-over-year (YoY) increase in net sales to $1.2 billion (€1B) for the second quarter of 2026.

Organic sales also grew 2.1% despite a negative 2% impact from the company’s exit from its private label pet food business. Overall, the segment accounted for 22% of Colgate-Palmolive’s total revenue. 

Operating profit for the pet business increased 2% YoY to $269 million (€237M), while the operating profit margin declined 40 basis points to 22.5%. 

Growth drivers

According to the manufacturer, quarterly growth was driven by strong e-commerce performance and omnichannel activations for Hill’s Prescription Diet.

“We grew in all segments across the business that we’re focused on, except for Science Diet dog, where we’ve talked about the migration to small pets and large pets certainly deteriorating in terms of their ownership,” Noel Wallace, Chairman, President and CEO of Colgate-Palmolive, told investors.

Between April and May, Hill’s began the phased rollout of Hill’s Science Diet Single Protein dog food, its latest offering in the fresh segment. The launch was supported by the company’s acquisition of Prime100.

Half-year results

For the first half of 2026, net sales increased 5% YoY to $2.4 billion (€2.1B), while operating profit also rose 5% to $549 million (€483M). 

Wallace says continued investment in advertising and e-commerce performance supported Hill’s growth during the period. The company also reported strong results from online-only retailers and during Amazon Prime Day, while its international business delivered mid-single-digit growth.

The CEO confirms that the company intends to invest further in advertising in the second half of the year as it seeks to accelerate category growth.

Company-wide performance

Colgate-Palmolive reported global net sales of $5.3 billion (€4.7B) in Q2, up 4.9% YoY. Organic sales increased 2.4%. Net income, however, declined 6.7% YoY to $693 million (€610M).

Performance increased across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific, while Wallace highlighted Hill’s Pet Nutrition as one of the company’s strongest-performing businesses during the period. 

Guidance

For FY 2026, Colgate-Palmolive maintained its forecast for net sales growth in the range of 2% to 6%, including a low-single-digit positive impact from foreign exchange.

The multinational also reaffirms its organic sales growth outlook in the range of 1% to 4%, including the impact of its exit from the private label pet food business.

Meanwhile, it now expects its statutory gross profit margin to be roughly flat, compared with its previous expectation for a decline.