Colgate-Palmolive sells products that people use up and buy again. Toothpaste, soap, shampoo, dish liquid, and pet food. These are not things people buy once. They run out, and people buy more. The company sells these products in over 200 countries and territories under brand names like Colgate, Palmolive, Hill's Science Diet, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Fabuloso, and Tom's of Maine. Revenue comes from two main buckets: the Oral, Personal and Home Care segment, which covers everything from toothpaste to fabric softener, and the Hill's Pet Nutrition segment, which sells premium dog and cat food through pet stores and veterinarians. In 2025, those two segments together generated $20.4 billion in revenue. The diagram below traces where the money goes.
Five years of data tell a clear story of slow but steady growth. Revenue climbed from $17.4 billion in 2021 to $20.4 billion in 2025. That is not explosive growth, but it is consistent. The company is not shrinking. Cash generation has also improved meaningfully. Operating cash flow rose from $3.3 billion in 2021 to $4.2 billion in 2025. Free cash flow, the money left after the company pays for factories and equipment, grew from $2.8 billion to $3.6 billion over the same period.
Gross margin tells the story of how much money the company keeps from each dollar of sales before paying for advertising, staff, and offices. It dipped in 2022, when raw material costs spiked, then recovered. By 2024 it had climbed back above 60%, and it held close to that level in 2025 at 60.1%. That recovery matters because gross margin is where pricing power shows up. If the company can raise prices without losing customers, margins hold. The 2022 dip and the subsequent recovery show both the vulnerability and the resilience.
Debt is also moving in the right direction. Net debt peaked at $8.0 billion in 2022 and has fallen every year since, reaching $5.6 billion in 2025. That is a meaningful reduction and shows the company is using its cash to pay down borrowings rather than just chasing acquisitions. The one exception is the company's skin health business, which became a problem in late 2025.
Now for what could go wrong. The risks here are real and specific, not just generic disclaimers. Nearly two-thirds of the company's sales come from outside the United States. That means wars, political crises, currency swings, and trade disputes in dozens of countries can all hurt results. The company has already flagged ongoing exposure in Ukraine, Russia, Argentina, Nigeria, and Turkey.
Tariffs imposed by the United States and other countries in 2025 have already increased costs. If the company cannot pass those costs to shoppers through higher prices, profits shrink. And if prices go up too much, shoppers may switch to cheaper store-brand products. The company's own filings say it expects category softness from 2025 to continue into 2026.
Supply chain is another specific concern. The company buys raw materials like oils, resins, and corn from suppliers around the world. Some of those materials come from only one or two suppliers. If a war, strike, or natural disaster disrupts that supply, the company may not be able to find a replacement quickly. There is also the ongoing talc litigation. Lawsuits related to talcum powder products have produced outcomes ranging from full dismissals to large jury awards, and the final cost remains genuinely uncertain.
Colgate-Palmolive holds a 41.3% share of the global toothpaste market and a 32.4% share of the global manual toothbrush market as of full year 2025. Toothpaste share slipped 0.4 points versus 2024, while toothbrush share gained 0.4 points. These numbers matter because toothpaste is the company's single biggest revenue category, representing 44% of total net sales in 2025. Losing share there, even slowly, is a signal worth watching.