Cat litter fight, with Nestle and Walmart

Research evidence excerpt

Cat litter fight, with Nestle and Walmart

Consumer | Global Household & Personal Care

May 18, 2026

The Clorox Company Javier Escalante Robert Ottenstein 212-446-9477 212-653-9020

CLX | $90.45 Javier.Escalante@evercoreisi.com Robert.Ottenstein@evercoreisi.com

Underperform | Target Price/Base Case: $110.00

Commentary

Company Statistics

Market Capitalization (M) $11,459

Enterprise Value (M) $14,609 Beyond timing issues around the ERP implementation, Clorox's

52-Week Range $93.39 - $142.38 retail sales also remain volatile ─not what most investors expect

Dividend/Share 4.90 within Staples─ driven by marketing activations. Clorox states Dividend Yield 5.1%

Fiscal Year End Jun that the greater use of promotions in businesses reporting into

its Household division ─35% of U.S. sales, operating with GM of

34% or ~14 points below the rest of its portfolio─ reflects

Earnings Summary Kingsford's seasonality and more active marketing calendars

2025 2026E 2027E around innovations for Glad and cat litter.

EPS Q1 $1.86 $0.84A .. On shelf, Glad's innovation strikes us as indistinguishable from Q2 $1.55 $1.40A ..

Q3 $1.45 $1.64A .. Hefty's ─consistent with the high levels of cross-shopping

Q4 $2.87 $1.66 .. between the two brands (pages 18-19), and supportive of our

FY $7.73 $5.54 $6.35 thesis of structural pricing risk, granted the prospect of relief from

EPS (Calendar) CY $6.63 $5.95 $6.45 Reynolds' July pricing actions to recover higher resin costs.

Below, we dive deeper into Clorox's cat litter business, a growing

1 Year Price History category where management warned that "litter is going to be

just bumpier" on slowing velocities despite increases in TDPs

(up 6%, page 11), as its flagship brand Fresh Step is shelved

alongside its "fighter" value brand Scoop Away at Walmart,