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OLDER Analysis Report
Sep 4, 2026
33 days ago · 100% complete
This report is 33 days old — newer filings and price moves since then are not reflected.
For AI assistants & researchers — machine-readable summary of this page

What this page is: Delvantic's full research page for Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (CHD) — AI-driven forensic equity research: mechanical valuation models (DCF, EPV, anchored-PE, scenario) plus three independent AI lenses (Quality / Value / Sentiment). Everything below is rendered server-side; you are not missing content that requires JavaScript. All scores are predictions and research opinions, not financial advice.

Our current read (analysis of 2026-10-07): Designation Low · Gem Score -26 (−100…+100 Quality+Value blend) · Quality 51 · Value -77 · Sentiment -11 (timing only, not weighted) · Composite fair value $49.35 vs $98.59 at analysis

Page map (sections in order; each card carries a stable reference-name attribute you can cite):

  • profile-header / price-overview — company profile, live quote, market cap
  • extended-analysis — the core: three AI lens reads with findings, scores, and the analyst memo
  • future-predictions — our forward price-band predictions
  • market-narrative / ai-findings / gpt-critique — narrative context, cross-model findings, and an adversarial critique of our own analysis (near the end of the document)
  • Members-only sections (render as login gates for anonymous readers): price-history, income-trend, key-metrics, financials (statement tables), insider-trading. The analysis above is public; the raw data tables require a free account.

More for machine readers: site briefing at /llms.txt · any ticker resolves at delvantic.com/stock/TICKER · raw inputs are public-company filings and market data (via licensed data feeds); every model, score, lens read, and prediction on this page is Delvantic's own analysis.

Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

CHD NYSE
Consumer Defensive · Household & Personal Products
Ewing, NJ 08628, United States churchdwight.com Updated Sep 3, 11:30pm
Price
$98.59
Market Cap
$23.4B
Employees
5,550
Beta
0.47
Avg Volume
1,853,927
Last Dividend
$1.22
CEO
Mr. Richard A. Dierker

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is a consumer packaged goods company focused on household, personal care, consumer health, and specialty products. Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as ARM & HAMMER, OxiClean, Trojan, First Response, Nair, Orajel, Batiste, Waterpik, Zicam, TheraBreath, and HERO, spanning laundry care, cleaning, oral care, sexual wellness, diagnostics, hair care, and skin care. The company also operates a specialty products business centered on sodium bicarbonate and related technologies, serving industrial, institutional, food, medical, and animal nutrition applications. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. organizes its operations across Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products, giving it a broad presence in both retail and business-to-business markets. Headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey, Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is recognized for combining branded consumer products with specialty ingredient and application expertise.

Runs with full report Generated: Sep 3, 2026 11:42pm
Price Overview
Price at report time
$98.59
as of Sep 3, 11:30pm (33d ago)
Change · Sep 3
-0.73 (-0.74%)
Day Range
$98.04 – $99.40
52-Week Range
$81.33 – $106.04
50-Day MA
$99.27
200-Day MA
$94.84
Volume
1,899,202.00
Right now · live
Log in to get the live feed
Members see the real-time price and the move since this report (over 33d).
Share Structure
Outstanding 237,203,907.00
Float 236,470,947.00
Free Float 99.7%
High free float — 99.7% of shares trade freely, ~0.3% held by insiders/institutions
Very liquid — most shares trade freely. Low insider ownership can mean less management alignment, but makes large position sizing straightforward.
Price History (1 Year)
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 12:15am (33d ago)
Revenue & Net Income Trend
The directional story — useful even when net income is negative.
Last updated: Sep 3, 2026 11:42pm (33d ago)
Revenue
The top line — total sales before any costs or taxes are subtracted. A measure of how much business the company is doing.
Net Income
The bottom line — profit left after subtracting all expenses, interest, and taxes from revenue. Reflects accounting profitability, but includes non-cash items like depreciation, so it isn't the same as cash earned.
Operating Cash Flow
The real cash generated by the day-to-day business — selling products, paying suppliers, collecting from customers. Calculated from net income by adding back non-cash items and adjusting for timing (unpaid bills, unsold inventory). When OCF consistently lags net income, the reported profit may not be converting to real money.
Period Revenue Net Income Net Margin YoY/QoQ
Key Metrics
TD Twelve Data statement HEX SEC filing
Industry comparison last run: Sep 3, 2026 11:39pm
P/E · trailing (TTM) (Price per dollar of earnings over the past year — not a run-rate or forward P/E)
HEX
Stock Price / EPS (Diluted)
32.65
Stock Price: $98.59
EPS (Diluted): 3.02
P/B Ratio (Price vs net asset value)
HEX
Stock Price / Book Value Per Share
6.02
Stock Price: $98.59
Total Equity: $4.00B
Shares: 244,300,000
EV/EBITDA (Total value vs operating profit)
HEX
Enterprise Value / EBITDA
19.41
Market Cap: $23.39B
Total Debt: $2.21B
Cash: $409.00M
EBITDA: $1.33B
Enterprise Value (Takeover price (cap + debt - cash))
HEX
Market Cap + Total Debt - Cash
$25.7B
Market Cap: $23.39B
Total Debt: $2.21B
Cash: $409.00M
Gross Margin (Revenue left after direct costs)
HEX
Gross Profit / Revenue
44.7%
Gross Profit: $2.77B
Revenue: $6.20B
Operating Margin (Revenue left after all operations)
HEX
Operating Income / Revenue
17.4%
Operating Income: $1.08B
Revenue: $6.20B
Net Margin (Revenue left as actual profit)
HEX
Net Income / Revenue
11.9%
Net Income: $736.80M
Revenue: $6.20B
ROE (Profit from shareholder equity)
HEX
Net Income / Total Equity
18.4%
Net Income: $736.80M
Total Equity: $4.00B
ROIC (Profit from all invested capital)
HEX
NOPAT / Invested Capital
14.3%
Operating Income: $1.08B
Tax Rate: 23.0%
Equity: $4.00B
Total Debt: $2.21B
Cash: $409.00M
Current Ratio (Can it pay short-term bills)
HEX
Current Assets / Current Liabilities
1.07
Current Assets: $1.60B
Current Liabilities: $1.50B
Debt/Equity (Leverage — debt vs equity)
HEX
Total Debt / Total Equity
0.55
Short-Term Debt: $0.00
Long-Term Debt: $2.21B
Total Debt: $2.21B
Total Equity: $4.00B
Rev/Share (Top-line per share)
HEX
Revenue / Shares Outstanding
$25.39
Revenue: $6.20B
Shares: 244,300,000
Book Value/Share (Net assets per share)
HEX
(Total Assets - Total Liabilities) / Shares
$16.38
Total Equity: $4.00B
Shares: 244,300,000
FCF/Share (Real cash generated per share)
HEX
(Operating Cash Flow + CapEx) / Shares
$4.47
Operating CF: $1.22B
CapEx: -$122.40M
Shares: 244,300,000
CapEx is negative (outflow) — added to OCF to get FCF
Div Yield (Annual income from holding)
TD
Last Annual Dividend / Stock Price
1.2%
Last Dividend: $1.22
Stock Price: $98.59
Payout Ratio (Earnings paid out as dividends)
HEX
Dividends Paid / Net Income
39.0%
Dividends Paid: -$287.20M
Net Income: $736.80M
Industry Benchmarks
Last run: Sep 3, 2026 11:39pm
Compares CHD against LLM-researched typical ranges for its industry. One research call per industry, cached indefinitely — every stock in the same industry reuses the same baseline.
Income Statement (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 3, 2026 11:42pm (33d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue $5.2B $5.4B $5.9B $6.1B $6.2B
Cost of Revenue $2.9B $3.1B $3.3B $3.3B $3.4B
Gross Profit $2.3B $2.3B $2.6B $2.8B $2.8B
Operating Expenses $1.2B $1.7B $1.5B $2.0B $1.7B
Operating Income $1.1B $597.8M $1.1B $807.1M $1.1B
Net Income $827.5M $413.9M $755.6M $585.3M $736.8M
EBITDA $1.3B $816.8M $1.3B $1.0B $1.3B
EPS $3.38 $1.70 $3.09 $2.39 $3.04
EPS (Diluted) $3.32 $1.68 $3.05 $2.37 $3.02
Balance Sheet (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 3, 2026 11:30pm (33d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Cash & Equivalents $240.6M $270.3M $344.5M $964.1M $409.0M
Total Current Assets $1.2B $1.4B $1.5B $2.2B $1.6B
Total Assets $8.0B $8.3B $8.6B $8.9B $8.9B
Current Liabilities $2.1B $1.2B $1.4B $1.3B $1.5B
Long-Term Debt $1.6B $2.6B $2.2B $2.2B $2.2B
Total Liabilities $4.8B $4.9B $4.7B $4.5B $4.9B
Total Equity $3.2B $3.5B $3.9B $4.4B $4.0B
Retained Earnings $5.4B $5.5B $6.0B $6.3B $6.8B
Cash Flow (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 12:15am (33d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Operating Cash Flow $993.8M $885.2M $1.0B $1.2B $1.2B
Capital Expenditure -$118.8M -$178.8M -$223.5M -$179.8M -$122.4M
Free Cash Flow $875.0M $706.4M $807.1M $976.4M $1.1B
Acquisitions (net) -$556.0M -$546.8M $0 -$19.9M -$656.0M
Net Debt Issued / (Repaid) $499.2M $298.8M -$200.0M -$204.6M $0
Dividends Paid -$247.5M -$255.0M -$266.5M -$277.0M -$287.2M
Stock Buybacks -$500.0M $0 -$300.1M $0 -$900.0M
Net Change in Cash $57.5M $29.7M $74.2M $619.6M -$555.1M
Growth Trends (YoY %)
Last updated: Sep 3, 2026 11:42pm (33d ago)
Metric 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue Growth +3.6% +9.2% +4.1% +1.6%
Gross Profit Growth -0.6% +15.0% +7.8% -0.5%
Operating Income Growth -44.6% +76.9% -23.7% +33.5%
Net Income Growth -50.0% +82.6% -22.5% +25.9%
EBITDA Growth -37.1% +57.0% -18.4% +26.6%
Dividend History (Last 20)
Last updated: Aug 31, 2026 5:45pm (37d ago)
Date Dividend Declaration Record Payment
2026-08-14 $0.31 — — —
2026-05-15 $0.31 — — —
2026-02-13 $0.31 — — —
2025-11-14 $0.30 — — —
2025-08-15 $0.30 — — —
2025-05-15 $0.30 — — —
2025-02-14 $0.30 — — —
2024-11-15 $0.28 — — —
2024-08-15 $0.28 — — —
2024-05-14 $0.28 — — —
2024-02-14 $0.28 — — —
2023-11-14 $0.27 — — —
2023-08-14 $0.27 — — —
2023-05-12 $0.27 — — —
2023-02-14 $0.27 — — —
2022-11-14 $0.26 — — —
2022-08-12 $0.26 — — —
2022-05-13 $0.26 — — —
2022-02-14 $0.26 — — —
2021-11-12 $0.25 — — —
0Company Classification 1Industry Landscape 2Company Momentum 3Forward Projection 4aDCF Valuation 4bEarnings Power Value 4cAnchored PE 4dReverse DCF 4eRevenue-Based DCF 4fAnchored P/S 4gScenario Analysis 4hDividend Discount Model 4iBook Value Analysis 4jInsider Activity 4fCash Flow Quality 4gDebt Maturity Risk 4hMacro Environment 4iSector Intelligence 4jRevenue Confidence 4kSensitivity Analysis 4lSector Demand Cycle 5AI Investigation 5bThesis Evaluation 6Valuation Synthesis
computed not applicable 18 computed · 6 not applicable
Risk : Reward — upside vs downside from this company's own quarters
Computed 2026-10-05 02:00
-0.7 : 1 +1σ upside vs −1σ downside, from this company's own quarterly history
A +1σ run of quarters pays -51%; a −1σ run costs 70%. Ratio -0.7:1 (μ 2.5%, σ 3.0% floored by absolute, 16 pairs).
Older method (repeat-worst-quarter): -0.7 : 1
CaseGrowthMarginFair valuevs price ($98.59)
Bull — recovery +2% 17.3% $55.07 -44%
Base — stabilizes +1% 15.0% $47.22 -52%
Bear — keeps slipping +1% 12.8% $39.72 -60%
Stress — last quarter repeats +0% 11.8% $36.24 -63%
Upside — a +1σ run of quarters (v2) +5% 13.2% $47.83 -51%
Stress — a −1σ run of quarters (v2) -1% 9.5% $29.24 -70%
The next quarters keep the trajectory of the worst recent matched quarter (ending 2026-03-31) — growth stays at 0.2% and margins bend by the same profit-vs-revenue ratio (×0.98). Stress is a trajectory, not a prediction — it answers "what if the ship's current heading simply continues," which history says is the case to respect.
Why this is appearing: this company files quarterly, so its recent trajectory could be measured rather than assumed — the engine matched Jun 2026, Mar 2026 against the same quarters one year earlier and found revenue +0.9% · operating income +1.9% · net income +1.9% year-over-year. That measured heading is what the stress case extends forward. Of those, the stress case extends the worst matched quarter — the one ending Mar 31, 2026 (revenue +0.1%, operating income -1.5% YoY) — not the average. Data measured through Jun 30, 2026 — this card recalculates automatically when the next quarterly filing is ingested. Companies without quarterly filings (many foreign listings) never show this card: with no measured trajectory, there is nothing honest to repeat.
Narrative Economics
The story the market is telling about this stock — the intangible X-factor (founder mythology, cult dynamics, TAM-of-imagination) that moves price beyond what cash flows alone explain. After Shiller, Narrative Economics.
No narrative profile yet for CHD — it's generated by the pipeline (market-narrative step).
Growth Outlook
Analyzed 2026-09-04 00:29

The question every valuation on this page silently assumes: is this company likely to grow? Judged forward — the business, its category, the world — against what's already printed.

Holding A low-single-digit compounder running roughly at — and lately slightly below — its own flat category: organic volume is barely positive, growth increasingly comes from M&A and margin work rather than the base portfolio, so Holding is the honest verdict. conf 8/10
Share loss Category flat · Household & Personal Products is in a steady, low-growth phase (category median recent growth ~1.5%, industry CAGR 1.8%, demand score 0). CHD's matched-quarter revenue growth of +0.9% sits marginally BELOW that, and its quarterly trend is decelerating — so it is growing, but not keeping pace with a category that itself is barely moving.
Next 2 quarters
Holding
Replenishment demand plus margin/cost programs should keep revenue and operating income in the roughly flat-to-low-single-digit band seen in the last matched quarters (+0.9% revenue, +1.9% operating income). Decelerating trend and soft discretionary lines argue against reacceleration; the essential base argues against contraction.
≈ inline with expectations
Year 1
Holding
Full-year shape is base organic growth of roughly 1% plus whatever mix and cost savings deliver, so total growth lands low-single-digit and earnings grow modestly ahead of sales. Absent a sizable acquisition contributing revenue, there is no mechanism in the portfolio to lift the year materially.
≈ inline with expectations
Years 2–3
Holding
Structurally, earnings power holds rather than compounds: a flat category, mid-tier positioning under private-label and marketplace attack, and a base portfolio growing below category median. Mix shift toward personal/consumer health and continued tuck-in M&A can plausibly sustain low-to-mid single-digit EPS growth, but there is no identified mechanism for durable high-single-digit-plus expansion.
↓ below expectations
The creme: each rung's call measured against what's already printed (vs analyst estimates · vs guidance / FY consensus · vs price-implied growth) — expectations in print are already in the price, so only the variant margin can pay. Hover a rung's chip for the margin read.
Growth drivers
55 Reflexive-purchase brand base with genuine pricing capability — ARM & HAMMER, OxiClean, Trojan, First Response sit in replenishment categories with inelastic demand; this is what keeps all fiscal years positive (avg 2.8% annual growth, volatility only 1.25%) and produces the 'Good Revenue Confidence' read. It underwrites Holding but not more — pricing is now largely lapped.
44 Acquisition flywheel as the marginal growth engine — TheraBreath, HERO, Waterpik, Zicam were bought and scaled; management has repeatedly converted tuck-ins into share gainers in higher-growth adjacencies (oral care, acne, wellness). This is the only visible mechanism that lifts the company above the ~1.5% category median, and it requires continuous capital deployment to keep working.
44 Cash conversion and margin mix improving faster than sales — FCF CAGR 16.4% versus revenue CAGR 2.8%, and matched-quarter operating income +1.9% on revenue +0.9% — earnings power is expanding modestly ahead of the top line via mix toward personal/consumer health and cost programs. Supports EPS growth even in a flat volume world.
23 Trade-down beneficiary under a weak consumer — Value-tier positioning (ARM & HAMMER liquid, OxiClean) historically absorbs share when households economize; with a macro-headwind backdrop this cushions volumes rather than adding growth.
Growth risks
56 Decelerating base with the company now trailing its own flat category — Matched-quarter revenue +0.9% versus category median recent growth of 1.49% and industry 1.8% CAGR; quarterly trend explicitly 'decelerating'. Running a touch below a stagnant category is the signature of slow share erosion, not cyclicality.
48 Laundry/commodity mix shift and private-label + Amazon pressure — Premiumization toward pods and concentrated formats works against the commodity baking-soda value proposition, while retailer brands and marketplace entrants attack the mid-tier price points where CHD's largest volume sits. Structural, not fixable by promotion.
37 Discretionary pockets are the swing factor and they are soft — Waterpik, vitamins and other higher-ticket, non-replenishment lines are the parts of the portfolio most exposed to a pressured consumer; they have been the drag behind the organic slowdown and there is no company-specific catalyst visible to reverse them near term.
42 Growth is M&A-dependent, and that pipeline is not guaranteed — With the base at ~1%, hitting mid-single-digit growth requires deals at acceptable prices; a dry or expensive pipeline mechanically converts the company into a ~1-2% grower. Earnings CAGR is already slightly negative (-1.25%) over the multi-year window.
20 First estimate miss after a run of beats — 2026-07-31 print came in -1% against consensus after +2/+4/+4/+9%; a small datapoint, but it breaks the pattern of conservative guidance being beaten and suggests the cost/mix offsets are thinning.
The world CHD operates in is a mature, no-growth staples market where volume is essentially demographic and the only real levers are pricing (now lapped), mix (working, slowly) and consolidation (working, but capital-dependent). Retail power is shifting toward marketplaces and private label, which compresses the mid-tier value positioning CHD occupies in laundry and cleaning. Macro headwinds with the 10y near 4.8% cut two ways: they pressure the discretionary tail of the portfolio (Waterpik, wellness) and raise the bar on acquisition math, while nudging trade-down toward CHD's value brands in laundry. Net: no external force plausibly accelerates this business over the next few years, and none obviously breaks it either. The dominant question is whether the base portfolio's ~1% run-rate is a soft patch or the new normal; the evidence — flat category, decelerating quarters, growth increasingly sourced from deals — leans toward the new normal.
Growth position composite -9
ShrinkingStallingHoldingGrowingAccelerating
50Next 2 quarters · Holding
50Year 1 · Holding
50Years 2–3 · Holding
-9Composite (−100…+100)
A research prediction, not advice. Forward-graded: each rung is scored against the prints that follow it. Not an input to the GEM designation — track record first.
Claude Reading
Independent analyst synthesis · claude-opus-4-7 · generated 2026-09-04 00:15:02
Verdict I agree with the synthesis that CHD is overvalued and dissent only on magnitude — fair value is closer to $68 than $60, so downside is meaningful but not catastrophic. Not a short (too high-quality, too defensive, dividend floor), but a clear avoid at $98.59. Wait for either a growth re-acceleration to 4%+ organic (unlikely near-term) or a de-rate to the low-$70s before revisiting. The insider selling and decelerating quarterly comps argue the re-rating catalyst may come from the downside first.

Looking at the raw numbers first: CHD is doing $6.2B TTM revenue growing at ~2.8% CAGR over five years (5.19→6.20), with the most recent YoY quarters showing 1.3% (Q2'26: 1.53 vs 1.51) and essentially flat growth (Q1'26 1.47 vs Q1'25 1.47). This is not a growth company — it's a 2% top-line grower. Net income has actually decompressed: $827M in 2021, $737M in 2025, so trailing five-year earnings are negative. FCF is the one bright spot at $1.09B and improving, but on a $23.4B market cap that's a 4.7% FCF yield — thin for a no-growth staple with $2.21B gross debt and only $409M cash. At 32.6x earnings and 19.4x EV/EBITDA for a business compounding earnings at -1.3%, the math is ugly on its face.

The quarterly trajectory deserves scrutiny. Q4'25 margin collapsed to 8.7% ($143M NI on $1.64B) after a solid Q3'25 at 11.5% — that's not seasonal noise, that's evidence of the pricing/promo pressure the bear narrative describes. Q1-Q2'26 margins recovered to 13-15%, but revenue growth is decelerating (Q2'26 YoY: +1.3%; Q1'26 YoY: 0%). The Q3'24 -$75M NI print was a Flawless/vitamin business writedown, so the "25.9% recent earnings YoY" figure is a base-effect artifact — ignore it. Insiders are exercising and dumping (~36k shares across three days in late August) with zero open-market buys. That's not "neutral"; on a stock 65% above DCF fair value, insider behavior is quietly confirmatory of the overvaluation thesis.

I agree with the synthesis verdict's direction but want to push back on the pre-flight's framing that this is "priced at a 15-20% premium to peers." PG trades at ~26x with 3-4% organic growth and better scale/moat; CL at ~24x with pricing power in emerging markets; KMB at ~22x. CHD at 32.6x on 1.6% growth is a 25-50% premium to better-positioned peers, not 15-20%. The narrative layer nails it: this is story-driven pricing (dividend streak, defensive cult, "quality compounder" mythology) resting on a $60 DCF anchor. The bull retort — that Waterpik/TheraBreath/Hero acquisitions will re-accelerate growth — has to contend with the fact that they already own these and organic growth is still 1-2%. Where's the accretion?

The contrarian case worth entertaining: if we get a genuine recession, CHD's baking soda/condom/laundry portfolio is truly recession-proof, and a 4-5% FCF yield with a 25-year dividend raise streak becomes attractive as bond proxy competition weakens. Also, gross margin at 44.7% is defensible and operating leverage from Hero/Therabreath integration could surprise. But even generous assumptions — 4% revenue CAGR, 18% operating margins, terminal 2.5% — get to maybe $70-75, not $99. The synthesis DCF at $60 may be slightly punitive on FCF conversion (16.4% FCF CAGR is real), so I'd nudge fair value to $65-72 rather than $60. That's still 27-34% downside. The models are directionally right; if anything the market-forces layer failing to render and the narrative engine's "moderate" durability call are the softest links — I'd argue narrative durability is actually low-to-moderate because dividend-raise CPG names have de-rated sharply once growth stalls (see KMB 2015-2018, CL 2018-2020). CHD hasn't de-rated yet but the setup rhymes.

GPT Reading
Independent reading · gpt-5.4 · generated 2026-09-04 00:15:17
Verdict Overvalued at $98.59 — this is a solid cash-generating staple, but the current multiple fits a cleaner 5%-6% grower; fair value is closer to $70-$80.

What stands out is how little fundamental growth you are getting for a very expensive staple. Revenue has moved from $5.19 billion in 2021 to $6.20 billion in 2025, which looks fine at first glance, but that is only about 4.6% annualized over four years and the more recent run-rate is weaker: the last four quarters sum to about $6.23 billion, barely above 2025. Quarterly sales growth is essentially flat, with June 2026 revenue of $1.53 billion up just 1.6% from $1.51 billion a year earlier, and March 2026 at $1.47 billion was flat versus March 2025. For that, the market is paying 32.6x earnings, 19.4x EV/EBITDA, 3.9x sales, and 6.0x book. That is a premium multiple usually reserved for cleaner and more durable growth than CHD is showing today.

The income statement also tells a less pristine story than the “steady compounder” label suggests. Gross profit in 2025 was $2.77 billion versus $2.79 billion in 2024 despite higher revenue, implying gross margin slippage even as annual operating income rebounded to $1.08 billion from $807 million. That suggests the 2025 recovery was helped materially below gross profit, likely by lower charges or cleaner SG&A leverage, rather than a broad-based margin renaissance. Looking across the annual series, operating income was $1.08 billion in 2021, then $598 million in 2022, back to $1.06 billion in 2023, down to $807 million in 2024, and back to $1.08 billion in 2025. That is not the profile of a smooth, highly predictable earner deserving a top-shelf premium. Even the quarterly margins remain uneven: 15.0%, 12.7%, 11.5%, 8.7%, 14.7%, 13.3% over the last six quarters. A business with this much earnings lumpiness should not trade like a pristine compounding machine.

Cash flow is the strongest defense here, but even that does not bail out the valuation. Free cash flow of $1.09 billion on $23.39 billion of market cap is a 4.7% equity FCF yield before asking what growth is realistically sustainable. Net debt is manageable at roughly $1.8 billion, and ROIC of 14.3% is respectable, so this is clearly a good business. But good business is not the same as good stock at any price. If I capitalize roughly $1.1 billion of FCF at the kind of low implied return the market is accepting, I can see why the stock sits near $100; the problem is that this requires confidence in steady high-single-digit value compounding that the revenue line simply does not support. With sales growth around 2%-3%, a dividend yield of just 1.2%, and no evidence in these numbers of a new acceleration, I think the market is paying up for safety and brand mythology more than for current earning power.

The best case against my view is straightforward: CHD has shown an ability to convert a modest top line into excellent cash, and the latest reported quarters do show better year-on-year earnings, with June 2026 net income up to $202.8 million from $191.0 million and the trailing four-quarter total around $745 million versus $737 million for 2025. The 2024 negative quarter appears anomalous, and if you normalize for one-off charges, the business may be more stable than the GAAP path implies. Debt is not burdensome, the current ratio above 1x is adequate for a staple, and brands plus M&A have historically created value. In a market that prizes defensiveness, investors may rationally accept 30x-plus for a consumer staple with 44.7% gross margins, 17.4% operating margins, and dependable shelf presence. I weigh those points less heavily because the valuation already assumes them. A stable staple at 22x-25x earnings can work; a stable staple at 33x with 1%-2% recent sales growth leaves too little room for execution risk, integration missteps, or even a simple de-rating if bond yields stay elevated.

What would change my mind is not another quarter of EPS outperformance on cost control; it would be proof of durable organic acceleration. If CHD can push quarterly revenue growth from the current 0%-2% range to a sustained 4%-6% while keeping net margin in the 13%-15% band, then a premium multiple would have a firmer foundation. I would also revisit the bear case if annual free cash flow moves decisively above $1.25-$1.30 billion without a balance-sheet stretch, or if an acquisition clearly lifts the growth algorithm rather than just maintaining it. Absent that, a stock near $98 looks priced for a best-version outcome from a company currently producing merely decent staple performance.

Grok Reading
Independent reading · grok-4.5 · generated 2026-09-04 00:15:53
Verdict Overvalued at $98.59 — quality FCF but 33× PE on ~2% growth; fair value closer to mid/high $70s vs ~$60 harsh DCF

Church & Dwight at $98.59 is a textbook case of a high-quality compounder that the market has stretched past what the operating numbers can support. Revenue has crawled from $5.19B in 2021 to $6.20B in 2025 — a 2.8% CAGR — and the most recent year-over-year print is just 1.6%. Net income tells a worse story: $827.5M in 2021, a trough of $413.9M in 2022, a rebound to $755.6M in 2023, a slip to $585.3M in 2024, and $736.8M in 2025, producing a five-year earnings CAGR of −1.3%. The recent 25.9% earnings bounce is real but is largely a recovery from the −5% net margin quarter in September 2024 and a soft 2024 operating year ($807M op income versus $1.08B in both 2023 and 2025), not evidence of a new growth regime. At 32.6× trailing earnings, 19.4× EV/EBITDA, and 3.9× sales, CHD trades at a clear premium to PG (~26×), CL (~24×), and KMB (~22×) while growing slower than a mature staples peer should need to justify that gap. Free cash flow is the bright spot — $1.09B on $6.20B of sales, a ~17.6% FCF margin, and a 16.4% FCF CAGR — but strong cash conversion does not by itself underwrite a mid-30s multiple on a low-single-digit top line.

Quarterly run-rate is stuck in a $1.47–$1.64B band with net margins oscillating between roughly 9% and 15% and no visible acceleration; the June 2026 quarter at $1.53B and 13.3% margin looks like steady-state, not inflection. Balance sheet leverage is manageable (debt $2.21B, equity $4.0B, D/E 0.55) and the payout ratio of 39% on a 1.24% yield leaves room for the dividend streak, but the current ratio of 1.07 is tight for a company this size and cash of only $409M against that debt stack is not a fortress. Insider activity is noise — option exercises paired with matching sales and token awards — and adds nothing bullish. The valuation synthesis fair value near $60 is aggressive on the downside, but even a more generous anchor in the mid-to-high $70s (capitalizing ~$1.1B FCF at a mid-teens multiple appropriate for 2–3% growth plus modest M&A optionality) still leaves the stock 20–30% rich. The market is paying for brand permanence and bolt-on M&A magic; the reported numbers show neither organic acceleration nor consistently rising earnings power.

The strongest case against this read is the FCF engine and the defensive brand portfolio. Believers will correctly note that ARM & HAMMER, OxiClean, Trojan, Waterpik and the acquired oral-care names throw off durable cash, that operating margin has reclaimed 17.4% and gross margin holds near 45%, that ROE of 18.4% and ROIC of 14.3% are respectable for staples, and that in a risk-off tape this is exactly the kind of name that holds up. They will also argue that the 2022–2024 earnings mess was temporary (input costs, one-off charges) and that management’s serial-acquirer playbook can keep low-single-digit organic growth looking like mid-single-digit reported growth. I weigh that less because the premium already assumes the playbook works forever: at 33× you need sustained high-single-digit earnings growth and flawless capital allocation, yet revenue confidence is flagged as decelerating, sector intelligence is merely in-line, and macro headwinds are explicit. Paying growth multiples for a 2.8% revenue CAGR and negative earnings CAGR is the error; quality of cash flow justifies a fair multiple, not this one.

I would flip toward neutral or constructive if organic revenue growth sustained above 4–5% for two consecutive years, if operating margin pushed through 19–20% on a full-year basis without one-time help, or if a sizable bolt-on acquisition clearly added mid-single-digit accretion while keeping FCF margins above 17%. A decisive break of the peer P/E gap (CHD compressing toward 24–26× while earnings hold) without a growth collapse would also force a re-rating of the overvaluation call. Until one of those shows up in the print, the stock looks priced for a story the income statement is not telling.

Big-3 Panel — where each AI stands
Each AI above independently stated a direction (undervalued, fairly valued, or overvalued) and how strongly it believes it (conviction, 0–5). We combine those into a Bull-Bear Index on a 0–10 scale: 5 is neutral, 10 is maximum bullish (undervalued at full conviction), 0 is maximum bearish. We compute the score ourselves with the same arithmetic for every seat — the models never grade their own bullishness — so the three are directly comparable. Δ shows how far each seat sits from the panel average of 1.0; a large Δ marks the dissenting voice, usually the one worth reading.
Claude claude-opus-4-7 1.0
overvalued · conviction 4/5 · Δ +0.0 vs panel · self: 3.0
GPT gpt-5.4 1.0
overvalued · conviction 4/5 · Δ +0.0 vs panel · self: 3.0
Grok grok-4.5 1.0
overvalued · conviction 4/5 · Δ +0.0 vs panel · self: 3.0
Advanced Analysis Forensic deep-dive · separate lenses
Separate reads — Company Quality (is it a great business?), Valuation (is it mispriced?), and General Sentiment (how macro + narrative are pushing it), kept deliberately apart · 2026-09-04 00:34:14
Delvantic - Cairn AI
Quality name, wrong price - pass and set alerts 8/10
Great little compounder at a bad price - I like the business, I do not like paying $98.59 for it.
The cruxWhether CHD de-rates toward its own $60-70 deserved-value zone before organic growth re-accelerates - the multiple, not the fundamentals, is the whole trade.
Forensic checks Derived mechanically from CHD's filed financials — not from the AI lenses
Liquidity & RunwaySelf-Funding
DilutionShare Count Shrinking
Earnings QualityHigh Earnings Quality
The four lensesswitch a tab for its full read — score + evidence
Company Quality
+51
Strong
edge √Σ 119 · risk √Σ 63 · conf 8/10

Church & Dwight is a mature consumer-staples earner with steady top-line growth from $5.19B (2021) to $6.20B (2025), gross margins recovering to 44.7% and FCF stepping up to $1.09B. Earnings quality is clean: OCF/NI of 1.67x, accruals -4.6% of assets, Beneish M -2.73, Altman Z 5.03 all point to real cash-backed earnings with no manipulation flags. Capital discipline is intact - diluted share count drifted from 249.6M to 244.3M (-0.5% CAGR) with buybacks running 7.2x SBC and SBC only 0.9% of revenue. Balance sheet is a constraint rather than a cushion: net debt of ~$1.8B against $409M cash, though $1.09B FCF covers it comfortably. Operating margin has been volatile (20.8 to 11.1 to 18.0 to 13.2 to 17.4) suggesting periodic impairments or one-time charges rather than a clean margin trajectory - worth investigating. Net income also bounced ($827M to $414M to $756M to $585M to $737M), which does not match the smooth revenue and FCF lines. Insider tape is neutral-to-slightly-negative: five sales totaling $5.5M over 12 months, all tied to option exercises (M then S pattern), no open-market P buys. This is routine comp monetization, not a red flag but not a vote of confidence either. Overall a solidly run branded-goods business with predictable cash generation and shareholder-friendly capital allocation.

Strengths 4
m70
Clean earnings quality
OCF/NI 1.67x, accruals -4.6% of assets, Beneish -2.73, Altman Z 5.03 - reported earnings are cash-backed with no manipulation signals.
m65
FCF growth and self-funding
FCF rose from $875M (2021) to $1.09B (2025), comfortably covering capex, dividends, and buybacks without external capital.
m55
Per-share discipline
Diluted shares down from 249.6M to 244.3M; buybacks 7.2x SBC and SBC just 0.9% of revenue - per-share value is being concentrated.
m45
Steady top-line and GM recovery
Revenue grew 19% cumulatively 2021-2025; gross margin recovered from a 41.9% dip in 2022 back to 44.7% in 2025.
Concerns 3
m45
Volatile operating margin
Op margin swung 20.8 to 11.1 to 18.0 to 13.2 to 17.4 - suggests recurring impairments or charges below the GM line that muddy the earnings picture.
m40
Net debt position
Net debt ~$1.8B with only $409M liquid cash (1.8% of market cap); balance sheet is a working constraint, not a cushion, though FCF services it easily.
m20
Insider selling with no buys
$5.5M sold vs $0 bought over 12 months, all via option-exercise-and-sell - routine but no directional confidence signal.
This is a textbook mature consumer-staples earner - not exciting, but the plumbing works. Earnings are cash, share count is falling, brands appear durable, and $1.09B of FCF gives management real optionality. The op-margin volatility bugs me and warrants a look at what is hitting below gross profit every other year, and the net-debt load means I would not call this a fortress. But as a business - separate from any price question - it is solidly in the healthy zone. Insider tape is boring, not alarming.
Verify before trusting this (4)
  • What drove the 2022 and 2024 operating margin dips - impairments, restructuring, or acquisition costs?
  • Debt maturity schedule and covenant terms behind the $1.8B net debt
  • Brand/category concentration and exposure to private-label pressure
  • Whether the 2022 net income drop reflects a specific write-down (e.g., FLAWLESS or WATERPIK impairment)
Valuation / Mispricing
-77
Rich
edge √Σ 25 · risk √Σ 127 · conf 7/10
price $98.59 vs deserved ~$60-70; ~35-40% overpay, negative margin of safety. attractive below $70.00

The composite fair value lands at $59.99 (signal-adjusted $59.62) against a $98.59 price, implying about -40% downside if the deserved value is right. Even leaning on the most generous of the three methods, the DCF at $70.63, price still runs ~40% above that anchor; the anchored P/E at $67.17 says the same, and the EPV floor at $31.54 flags real downside if growth stalls. Earnings quality is high and the business is Strong, which justifies paying above the EPV floor and probably somewhere between the DCF and anchored-PE - call deserved value ~$65-70 generously. That still leaves the stock ~30-50% too expensive. What's priced in: durable low-single-digit organic growth, continued accretive M&A, and no margin scare - essentially the bull case as base case. Margin of safety is negative; you are paying today for a decade of flawless execution in a category facing pod-driven laundry shifts and private-label pressure. Quality is real, but I do not pay 1.5x deserved value for staples-grade growth.

Cheap signals 1
m25
Quality + clean earnings deserve a premium
High earnings quality, $1.09B FCF, and shrinking share count justify paying above EPV and toward the top of the method range - but not 40% beyond it.
Rich / priced-in 4
m78
Composite FV ~40% below price
Signal-adjusted FV $59.62 vs $98.59 = -40% upside. Even the highest method (DCF $70.63) leaves ~30% downside.
m70
Anchored P/E confirms the gap
Anchored-PE fair value $67.17 vs $98.59 implies the market is paying a premium multiple to CHD's own history - not just to peers.
m55
EPV floor is very low
EPV of $31.54 means if growth/M&A engine stalls, the no-growth earnings power supports roughly a third of today's price - asymmetric downside.
m45
Priced-for-perfection narrative
Laundry pod shift, Amazon/private-label pressure, and modest visibility argue against paying a luxury multiple for a low-single-digit grower.
Good business, wrong price. Deserved value sits somewhere in the $60-70 zone; paying $98.59 is buying a decade of clean execution with no cushion if anything wobbles. I would want to see it below ~$70 before it screens as interesting on valuation, and closer to the anchored-PE / DCF midpoint to get excited. Until then this is a hold-your-nose-or-pass name, not a buy.
Verify before trusting this (4)
  • Forward organic growth guidance and any category-level softness in laundry/personal care
  • M&A pipeline and deal multiples paid - is capital allocation still accretive?
  • Operating margin bridge - what is causing the every-other-year volatility below gross profit
  • Net debt trajectory and interest coverage vs buyback pace
General Sentiment
-11
Balanced
tail √Σ 48 · head √Σ 60 · conf 6/10

CHD sits in a quiet spot on the tape. The market is nascent risk-on (VIX 14.3, S&P near highs), which is a modest positive for equities broadly but only lightly relevant to a 0.47-beta consumer defensive - CHD does not need risk appetite to hold its bid. Its narrative is a moderate-intensity, moderate-durability 'boring fortress' story: essential brands, dividend streak, 'safe haven' framing. That story is intact and gets a small lift whenever investors want defensive ballast, but with cult coefficient low and the tape not stressed, there is no rush into the name. Momentum readings are quietly positive and volatility is low - classic sleep-well tape behavior. The pressing headwind is the 'priced like a luxury good' critique in the bear narrative, amplified by a 10y at 4.79% and market PE 25.8 - bond-proxy defensives with premium multiples are exactly the cohort where rate pressure lands hardest. The lone news item (PG Fabric & Home Care mixed, Tide innovation lifting growth) is a mild negative read-across on laundry competitive intensity, feeding the bear's pods/private-label thesis. Net: a low-beta defensive with an intact but unenergetic narrative, offset by rate-driven de-rating risk on premium multiples. Pressure is close to balanced with a faint defensive tilt.

Tailwinds 3
m35
Intact steady-compounder narrative
The 'fortress of boring essentials' story is moderate intensity and moderate durability with no visible crack - it keeps a floor of defensive-allocation demand under the stock even without a catalyst.
m25
Low-beta insulation in a calm tape
Beta 0.47 means the risk-on tape barely pulls CHD along, but it also means any wobble in the S&P (only 0.7% off highs) does little damage - the name lives on its own narrative pressure, not the market's.
m22
Quiet positive momentum, low vol
Momentum score positive with low revenue-growth volatility reinforces the sleep-well framing - the tape is not fighting the story.
Headwinds 3
m45
Rates pressuring premium defensives
10y at 4.79% with market PE 25.8 is the exact macro backdrop that de-rates bond-proxy staples trading at growth multiples - CHD's premium is squarely in the crosshairs of any duration-sensitive rotation.
m30
Laundry competitive read-across from PG
PG flagging mixed Fabric & Home Care with Tide innovation lifting growth feeds the bear's pods/premiumization and private-label thesis - a small but pointed narrative jab at CHD's core category.
m25
Overvaluation critique lingering in the narrative
The bear frame ('priced like a luxury good, 65% above DCF') is a persistent overhang on sentiment even without an active catalyst - it caps the multiple's upside and invites downgrades on any miss.
Net pressure on CHD is close to flat with a whisper of defensive tailwind. The narrative is intact but unexciting, the tape is calm, and the low beta mutes almost everything the macro throws at it. The one real force worth respecting is the rate backdrop grinding on premium-multiple defensives - that is a slow headwind, not an event. I read this as Balanced: no wind at the back, no gust in the face, just the usual quiet pressure of an expensive staple in a high-rate world.
Verify before trusting this (4)
  • Whether the 10y drifts higher and triggers a broader staples de-rating
  • Any analyst target cuts citing valuation or laundry share loss
  • Nielsen/scanner data on ARM & HAMMER laundry share vs Tide and private label
  • Signs the 'safe haven' rotation intensifies (VIX spike) which would firm the bid
The market-wide tape + this name's exposure to it (beta / sector / narrative durability). Context on the non-fundamental pressure — not a call on the business or the price. processId: detail-general-sentiment
Growth Outlook
-9
Holding
edge √Σ 86 · risk √Σ 95 · conf 8/10

The world CHD operates in is a mature, no-growth staples market where volume is essentially demographic and the only real levers are pricing (now lapped), mix (working, slowly) and consolidation (working, but capital-dependent). Retail power is shifting toward marketplaces and private label, which compresses the mid-tier value positioning CHD occupies in laundry and cleaning. Macro headwinds with the 10y near 4.8% cut two ways: they pressure the discretionary tail of the portfolio (Waterpik, wellness) and raise the bar on acquisition math, while nudging trade-down toward CHD's value brands in laundry. Net: no external force plausibly accelerates this business over the next few years, and none obviously breaks it either. The dominant question is whether the base portfolio's ~1% run-rate is a soft patch or the new normal; the evidence — flat category, decelerating quarters, growth increasingly sourced from deals — leans toward the new normal.

Growth drivers 4
m55
Reflexive-purchase brand base with genuine pricing capability
ARM & HAMMER, OxiClean, Trojan, First Response sit in replenishment categories with inelastic demand; this is what keeps all fiscal years positive (avg 2.8% annual growth, volatility only 1.25%) and produces the 'Good Revenue Confidence' read. It underwrites Holding but not more — pricing is now largely lapped.
m44
Acquisition flywheel as the marginal growth engine
TheraBreath, HERO, Waterpik, Zicam were bought and scaled; management has repeatedly converted tuck-ins into share gainers in higher-growth adjacencies (oral care, acne, wellness). This is the only visible mechanism that lifts the company above the ~1.5% category median, and it requires continuous capital deployment to keep working.
m44
Cash conversion and margin mix improving faster than sales
FCF CAGR 16.4% versus revenue CAGR 2.8%, and matched-quarter operating income +1.9% on revenue +0.9% — earnings power is expanding modestly ahead of the top line via mix toward personal/consumer health and cost programs. Supports EPS growth even in a flat volume world.
m23
Trade-down beneficiary under a weak consumer
Value-tier positioning (ARM & HAMMER liquid, OxiClean) historically absorbs share when households economize; with a macro-headwind backdrop this cushions volumes rather than adding growth.
Growth risks 5
m56
Decelerating base with the company now trailing its own flat category
Matched-quarter revenue +0.9% versus category median recent growth of 1.49% and industry 1.8% CAGR; quarterly trend explicitly 'decelerating'. Running a touch below a stagnant category is the signature of slow share erosion, not cyclicality.
m48
Laundry/commodity mix shift and private-label + Amazon pressure
Premiumization toward pods and concentrated formats works against the commodity baking-soda value proposition, while retailer brands and marketplace entrants attack the mid-tier price points where CHD's largest volume sits. Structural, not fixable by promotion.
m37
Discretionary pockets are the swing factor and they are soft
Waterpik, vitamins and other higher-ticket, non-replenishment lines are the parts of the portfolio most exposed to a pressured consumer; they have been the drag behind the organic slowdown and there is no company-specific catalyst visible to reverse them near term.
m42
Growth is M&A-dependent, and that pipeline is not guaranteed
With the base at ~1%, hitting mid-single-digit growth requires deals at acceptable prices; a dry or expensive pipeline mechanically converts the company into a ~1-2% grower. Earnings CAGR is already slightly negative (-1.25%) over the multi-year window.
m20
First estimate miss after a run of beats
2026-07-31 print came in -1% against consensus after +2/+4/+4/+9%; a small datapoint, but it breaks the pattern of conservative guidance being beaten and suggests the cost/mix offsets are thinning.
vs expectations: ~6m inline · 1y inline · 2-3y below
The forward growth verdict — is the business itself likely to grow (next 2 quarters / year 1 / years 2–3), judged against its category and against printed expectations. The full horizon ladder + creme renders on the Growth Outlook card above. Not a call on the price (Valuation owns that) or the tape (Sentiment owns that).
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Lenses kept deliberately separate — Company Quality (price-agnostic), Valuation (price-conditional), General Sentiment (non-fundamental macro/narrative pressure), and Growth Outlook (the forward growth verdict). The scores are not blended. Filing-level items (convertibles, lock-ups, customer concentration) are v2 — see each lens's "verify."
Price Prediction
Lower -8.2% v0.6.0 View full prediction →

When we made this prediction on Sep 4, 2026, CHD was $98.55. We expect it to be $90.50 by Mar 2027, and we consider it great value under $70.00. This is an early model (v0.6.0) — the direction is more reliable than the exact price. Made Sep 4, 2026.

Price when predicted$98.55
Our estimate for Mar 2027$90.50-8.2%
Great value below$70.00
Price history shown (6 Months)

Blue is our prediction, starting the day we made it. Grey is a slower route to the same place — the same destination, taking longer. Black is the actual price, so you can see how we are doing.

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My Notes personal — only you see this
v1.1.760 · f4b58a28 · 2026-10-07 20:07:48