A：The priority actions set out in Colgate's quest strategy include focusing on delivering more impactful science-based innovation across all price tiers, omnichannel demand generation, and upskilling the commercial organization to be more consumer-centric. The company is also prioritizing investments in digital data analytics and AI to drive more dynamic change.

A：Colgate is implementing a new innovation model with additional resources to deliver impactful science-based innovation across all price tiers. The new model includes investment in people, process improvement, and the use of AI to prioritize innovative products and packaging. They are also focusing on omnichannel demand generation and are scaling new capabilities to build brand strength and drive brand penetration.

A：Hill's underlying performance was very good in a softer category as Colgate successfully gained market share in low development segments like Cat Wet and Small Paws. The company's brands across categories have shown solid health following years of investment, providing opportunities to drive pricing and offset raw material inflation.

A：The impacts and speed of effecting changes in Colgate's focus areas are designed to improve organic sales growth performance and drive dollar-based earnings per share growth. The company is executing against the changes implemented earlier and is introducing new changes to align with the current environment. Colgate is confident in its position and execution to stimulate growth despite the challenging category environment.

A：In North America, the operating environment was slightly better for Colgate, especially in categories other than skin health. However, consumer sentiment remains weak, with higher levels of couponing and down traffic in Hispanic areas. The category takeaway in the U.S. was softer than anticipated in September. In Europe, the pricing environment is weaker, especially in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland.

A：Pricing is weaker in Europe, and there is a notable weakness in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland. The company's performance in Mexico and Brazil is mixed, with organic growth in mid single digits, whereas Colombia and Central America are softer due to economic weaknesses and political volatility. China is a mixed bag with robust e-commerce and innovation-driven growth for Colgate, while premium e-commerce categories are seeing weakness. The company is focused on executing core innovations and pushing premium innovation.

A：Hills is experiencing raw material inflation, tariffs, and trade destocking, but is still delivering dollar-based earnings per share and strong cash flow.

A：The decline in oral care was attributed to the replacement of trade inventory in connection with the formula change of Colgate Total.

A：The formula change led to a 150 basis point negative impact on volume from the Colgate Total replacement, causing some temporary mouth irritations and impacting market shares. Market shares began to improve after the reformulated product was introduced in Brazil and other Latin American markets.

A：Hills is focusing on a strong premiumization strategy for growth in modern trade, particularly in urban areas, and will review the business in detail with teams next week.

A：Hills plans to engage in conversations with the drugstore channel to improve category dynamics, focusing on revenue growth management and premium therapeutic innovation. They are also confident in the performance of Colgate Total and are excited about the long-term growth potential of the market.

A：There has been a slight uptick in promotional activity and more couponing, but it's not yet back to pre-COVID levels. Retailers and competitors are looking for solutions to drive sales and volume.

A：Hills is deliberately looking at more core innovation across their franchises to stimulate demand, particularly at the lower end, while continuing to focus on the significant growth opportunity in the premium segment globally.

A：The company is pleased with the continued pricing in Europe and has learned to manage price effectively. They plan to ramp up innovation, particularly focusing on science-based innovation for the premium segment to allow for pricing, although it will be a balance due to prolonged inflation.

A：The factors contributing to Q4 organic sales growth being in line with the year to date include the impact of total to the total company improving, destocking in certain markets and products leveling out, and the exit from private label pet food which impacts Q4 in a similar way it did in Q3.

A：Global industry growth is currently rolling up to levels where it's below the historical 3-5% longer term benchmark. Categories are now projected to grow at a script rate on a global basis, likely more like a flat to a slight decline in the first half.

A：Inflationary pressure initially slowed growth due to lower pricing. As prices are coming back in volumes and inflation continues, the impact is clear and underpins continuous consumer uncertainty. This results in overall growth being script on a global basis and slower in the first half.

A：Q4 is expected to improve from Q3 with volumes being flat, pricing also flat, and the gross profit margin for Q4 at 60% plus or minus sequential improvement from Q3 due to less material inflation and a slightly greater tariff impact.

A：Colgate has increased advertising spending over the years to support brand investments. With the current performance of the categories and the intention to apply AI and automation for savings, there is a thought process around being more strategic with advertising spending to optimize it and achieve a better return profile.

A：The company expects advertising dollars to be roughly flat compared to the previous year on a percent of sales basis. They anticipate the fourth quarter's advertising spend to be in line with the year to date and have adjusted spending in some markets where consumers are facing more challenges. There have been delays in innovative launches in these markets, but the company continues to invest robustly against return on investments and media efficiencies.

A：The company's strategic focus is on AI as a key strategic enabler for growth and productivity. Investments in AI have been significant, with training and upscaling of teams on horizontal AI to increase productivity. They have launched AI hubs using leading generative AI models and plan to re-engineer processes to enhance efficiency. They are also focusing on marketing and content innovation with generative AI to improve consumer engagement and real-time visual storytelling.

A：AI will be pivotal in transforming marketing and digital strategies, significantly enhancing consumer engagement through optimized real-time content. The company is conducting pilots that are showing early success and plans to use AI to step up the quality and quantity of innovation, generate more consumer-centric concepts, and get them tested and validated quickly. They are also thinking about collaborating with big retailers to unlock the potential of AI in e-commerce.

A：The company expects private label inventory to continue to be reduced through the fourth quarter and into the first half of 2026, which will be beneficial for the business and allow focus on short-term and long-term growth opportunities. Private label sales impacted the business negatively this quarter, but the underlying structure of the business is strong with broad-based growth in organic sales despite a category slowdown.

A：The company maintains a strategy of balancing competition and commodities while considering pricing actions for offsetting the impact of foreign exchange. Despite seeing favorable movements in foreign currencies over the past quarter, they still expect a negative impact on the year, which is mostly in Europe. They are encouraged by the fact that they have seen positive pricing in every division in the third quarter and plan to continue looking for pricing opportunities.

A：The company's outlook for EPS reflects net sales growth of low single digits with a flat to low single-digit negative impact from foreign exchange, which improves in the back half of the year. They updated their organic sales growth to be roughly in line with the year to date. The company has maintained its EPS guidance, expecting it to be aligned with the year to date gross profit margin and with advertising roughly in line with the full year of last year. They have considered the impact of exiting private labels on run rate going forward.

A：The sales growth and productivity program is designed to be flexible and to facilitate changes that help in making the company more efficient and adaptable. It includes estimated charges of 200 to 300 million, with the first charges expected to start showing in the fourth quarter. The program focuses on aligning with the 2030 strategy, which entails investments in areas like Omni demand gen, increased innovation, scaling capabilities, AI, and agentic AI, as well as educating teams to execute these strategies.

A：The company expects to be able to continue delivering bottom line, dollar-based DPS growth despite the challenges faced in the current market. The restructuring program is estimated to have charges of 200 to 300 million, with the first impacts expected in the fourth quarter. The aim is not just to cut costs but also to reshape the company for future growth and align it with the 2030 strategy.

A：The company has been working on building flexibility into the Profit and Loss (P&L) over the past 12 months, which has been critical in dealing with challenges such as incremental tariffs, foreign exchange fluctuations, higher raw materials costs, and category slow-downs. The focus on flexibility is ongoing as part of achieving targets and responding to market changes.

A：The company is looking at technology as a means to gain a competitive advantage by innovating faster and bringing better, premium products to the market more expeditiously. It plans to utilize technology such as AI to automate demand planning and replenishment, which could lead to increased cash flow and reduced working capital. Additionally, the company is focusing on demand planning to ensure it is leveraging AI to its advantage.

A：The Hna subsidiary in China is facing challenges, with growth at Colgate China being outpaced by the rise of e-commerce. The challenges are being addressed by focusing on improving the brick and mortar business and enhancing online communication to rebuild the brand more effectively. The company is implementing strategies to improve the go-to-market approach, particularly in brick and mortar, and is investing in online presence and e-commerce readiness. Premium innovation is set to be introduced in the fourth quarter to boost the premium side of the business.