The Clorox Company (CLX)
UndervaluedFundamental
53
Price
$81.01
Market Cap
$9.89B
Part 1 · What the company is worth
Overview
Clorox makes household staples sold under well-known names: bleach and cleaning sprays under its own Clorox brand, trash bags under Glad, charcoal under Kingsford, and personal-care and health products including Burt's Bees. It manufactures most of what it sells, ships it to large retailers, and relies on repeat, habitual purchases rather than one-off sales — a household restocks bleach or trash bags on a predictable cycle regardless of the wider economy.
How it makes money
Revenue comes from selling packaged goods to a concentrated set of large retailers, who then resell to shoppers. Margins depend on the cost of raw materials such as resin and chemicals, on manufacturing efficiency, and on holding shelf space and brand loyalty against cheaper private-label alternatives that retailers sell alongside Clorox's own products. The company reports results across four segments split by product category and by U.S. versus international markets.
Revenue by segment
Cleaning and disinfecting products under Clorox, plus water filtration under Brita and vitamins under Natural Vitality.
Trash bags under Glad, cat litter under Fresh Step and Scoop Away, and charcoal under Kingsford.
Food products including Hidden Valley dressings, and personal care through Burt's Bees.
The same core product categories sold outside the United States, mainly in Latin America and Canada.
Competitive moat
Brand · NarrowNames like Clorox, Glad and Kingsford have been the default choice on U.S. shelves for generations, which lets the company hold shelf space and charge more than an unbranded equivalent. The advantage is narrow: retailer store brands compete directly in nearly every category, and a large retailer with real pricing leverage can push back hard on Clorox's terms.
What drives demand
DefensiveCleaning products, trash bags and personal care items are routine, non-discretionary household purchases that people keep buying in a downturn, which makes volume relatively stable across the economic cycle. The bigger swings in results tend to come from input-cost inflation and from consumers trading down to private label when money is tight, not from skipping the purchase altogether.
Key risks
- Retailer concentration — With Walmart alone worth nearly 27% of net sales, large retailers have the leverage to demand better pricing terms or to favour their own private-label products over Clorox's brands.
- Input cost and supply chain disruption — Volatile commodity, packaging, labour, energy and logistics costs, along with the risk of supply disruption from conflicts such as those in Ukraine, the Middle East, or tensions between China and Taiwan, can raise costs faster than prices can be adjusted.
- Cybersecurity — The company depends heavily on information technology systems and has already suffered a major cyberattack, in August 2023, that disrupted operations; a repeat incident could again halt production and shipments.
- Private-label competition — Store-brand alternatives, often priced well below Clorox's products, compete in nearly every category the company sells in, forcing continued spending on marketing and innovation to defend market share.
Customer concentration
Top customers account for 27% of revenue
Walmart and its affiliates accounted for nearly 27% of net sales in fiscal 2025, giving a single retailer significant leverage over shelf placement, promotional terms and pricing.
The case for
Buyers argue that Clorox's brands are habit-forming staples that hold shelf space no private label can fully dislodge, and that the company's cost-savings programme and full recovery from the 2023 cyberattack position it to grow margins even on roughly flat sales.
The case against
Sellers worry that with Walmart alone worth over a quarter of sales, Clorox has limited room to push back on retailer demands, and that persistent private-label competition plus input-cost inflation could keep squeezing volumes and margins at the same time.
Written by the editors, published on August 18, 2026
Direct competitors
Who this company fights with for the same customers
Generated on September 18, 2026 with claude-haiku-4-5 — shared with all users
Reckitt's Lysol is the closest rival to Clorox's core disinfecting bleach, sprays and wipes, fighting for the same shelf space and the same household and professional cleaning budgets in North America.
Church & Dwight sells Arm & Hammer cleaning and laundry additives, cat litter and personal care to the same value-minded U.S. grocery and mass-market shopper Clorox depends on.
P&G's Mr. Clean, Swiffer, Dawn and Febreze compete directly with Clorox's home-cleaning lines for the same retail shelf and promotional slots, backed by far larger advertising and R&D budgets.
Colgate-Palmolive's home-care brands — Fabuloso, Ajax, Murphy Oil Soap — target the same surface-cleaning customer in the United States and in Clorox's Latin American markets.
This privately held U.S. group competes across several Clorox aisles at once: Windex and Scrubbing Bubbles against Clorox cleaners, Ziploc against Glad bags and wraps, Glade against home fragrance.
Unilever competes with Clorox on two fronts: Domestos and Cif bleach and surface cleaners outside the U.S., and Dove, Vaseline and Simple against Burt's Bees in natural personal care.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Revenue
$6.76B
Trailing 12 months (through 3/31/2026)
Net Income
$756M
Trailing 12 months (through 3/31/2026)
Free Cash Flow
$761M
Total Equity
$321M
Total Liabilities
$5.08B
Current Ratio
0.84
Interest Coverage
-
Debt/EBITDA
3.94
Earnings Per Share
Revenue & Net Income
Free Cash Flow
Income Breakdown
Historical statement
Margins over time
Debt over time
How heavy the debt is
Growth grid
Growth — Revenue
Fair Value Estimation
Fair Value
$108.06
Current Price
$81.01
Margin of Safety
+25.0%
Fair Value Range
$70.24 - $145.88
Spread across the valuation methods used, not a statistically calibrated confidence interval.
Estimation Methods
Valuation Metrics
P/E Ratio
13.15
ROE
252.3%
P/B Ratio
30.81
P/FCF
25.78
Gross Margin
43.8%
ROIC
-
Profitability Radar
Value Creation (Economic Moat)
ROIC
-
WACC
6.0%
ROIC − WACC
-
Fundamental Analysis Criteria
Passed (12)
- EPS shows upward trend
- Gross Margin 43.8%
- P/FCF 25.78
- Positive Free Cash Flow
- Current Ratio
- Debt/EBITDA
- Return on Tangible Assets
- ROE 181.1%
- Earnings Quality (OCF/NI) 0.76
- Share Dilution -0.2%
- Net Margin Trend 11.2% vs 9.9%
- Piotroski F-Score 8/9
Failed (11)
- EPS CAGR 4.22%
- Price CAGR -3.51%
- P/B Ratio 30.81
- Debt/Equity ratio
- CapEx intensity
- Low reliance on intangibles
- Price below Graham Number
- DCF valuation (Fairly valued)
- Revenue Growth 5Y -1.8%
- Analyst Consensus 4% Buy
- Earnings Surprise avg 1.8%
Unavailable (5)
- ROIC NaN%
- Dividend Payout NaN%
- Operating Margin NaN%
- Interest Coverage
- PEG Ratio (need PE > 0 and growth > 0)
Piotroski F-Score
Strong financial health
Earnings Quality
Moderate: some gap between profits and cash
Share Dilution
Buying back shares. Shareholder friendly
Institutional Holdings
Governance
Executive Team
| Name | Title | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Ms. Linda J. Rendle | CEO & Chairman | 47 |
| Mr. Luc Bellet | Executive VP & CFO | 46 |
| Mr. Chris T. Hyder | Executive VP & COO | 50 |
| Ms. Nina Barton | Executive VP and Chief Growth & Strategy Officer | 51 |
| Ms. Laura E. Peck | VP, Chief Accounting Officer & Corporate Controller | 48 |
| Ms. Chau Banks | Senior VP and Chief Information & Data Officer | 56 |
| Ms. Kirsten M. Marriner | Executive VP & Chief Administrative Officer | 52 |
| Ms. Lisah Burhan | Vice President of Investor Relations | - |
| Ms. Angela C. Hilt | Executive VP, Chief Legal & External Affairs Officer and Corporate Secretary | 53 |
| Mr. Eric Sean Schwartz | Senior VP & Chief Marketing Officer | 53 |
Audit Risk
7
Board Risk
3
Compensation Risk
6
Shareholder Rights Risk
8
Part 2 · The price and when to enter
This part won't tell you whether the company is worth owning: it helps you choose when to buy it, once the fundamentals have convinced you. Inside: technical analysis, potential, historical drawdowns, gamma exposure.
Documents
- View document
Annual Report (10-K)
A yearly overview of the business, its financial results, and the risks it faces.
Filed on 2026-08-07
- View document
Quarterly Report (10-Q)
A snapshot of financial performance for the most recent three-month period.
Filed on 2026-04-30
- View document
Current Report (8-K)
An announcement of a major event, such as a leadership change or big news.
Filed on 2026-08-03
via SEC EDGAR
Income History
via SEC EDGAR
Latest News
Recent headlines for CLX, sourced from Markets Gazette.
- 8/3/2026POSITIVEClorox Expects Full-Year Sales Boost From Purell Deal
The Clorox Company announced fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed analyst forecasts, signaling resilience despite challenges. While sales volumes were down and the recent acquisition of GOJO Industries, the maker of Purell, incurred additional logistics costs, the overall financial performance indicates effective management. The company anticipates a full-year sales boost stemming from the Purell integration, suggesting a positive outlook for future revenue streams. Investors will be watching the successful integration of GOJO and its impact on Clorox's market position and profitability in the coming quarters.
via Markets Gazette