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CL or EL or KMB
Which Stock Would AI Choose? Colgate-Palmolive (CL) vs. The Estée Lauder Companies (EL) vs. Kimberly-Clark (KMB) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- CL leads year-to-date with approximately 19% gains, driven by strong Q4 earnings beats from emerging markets growth and AI productivity initiatives.
- EL shows robust 1-year performance of over 30%, bolstered by skincare sales growth and strategic acquisitions like Forest Essentials, though facing recent volatility.
- KMB offers a compelling 4.9% dividend yield and cost productivity focus, trading at a lower PE ratio around 21.5x amid strategic restructuring.
- All three operate in consumer staples/personal care, providing defensive exposure, but CL exhibits the strongest recent momentum while KMB appears undervalued.
- Recent market activity highlights resilience in essentials like oral care (CL) versus cyclical beauty pressures on EL.
- Relative performance favors stability seekers in KMB and growth in CL during uncertain conditions.
Introduction
This stock comparison examines CL (Colgate-Palmolive), EL (The Estée Lauder Companies), and KMB (Kimberly-Clark), all key players in consumer staples and personal care products. These companies offer essential goods like oral care, cosmetics, and hygiene items, appealing to investors seeking defensive positions amid market volatility. Traders focused on relative performance, dividend reliability, and growth catalysts in the sector will find value in analyzing their recent momentum, valuation differences, and sector-specific drivers. This overview highlights how each navigates current economic pressures, providing insights into market positioning and potential trade-offs.
CL Overview and Recent Performance
Colgate-Palmolive (CL), a global leader in oral, personal, and home care products, has demonstrated resilience in recent market activity. The company reported strong fourth-quarter results, with revenue of $5.23 billion surpassing expectations by 1.7% and adjusted EPS of $0.95 beating prior-year figures. Growth in emerging markets contributed 4.5% organically, while a focus on AI-driven productivity bolstered margins amid macroeconomic challenges. Trading around $93.56 with a market cap of $75 billion and PE ratio of 35.6x, CL has posted a year-to-date return of 19.13%, outperforming the S&P 500. Sentiment remains positive due to steady demand for essentials and operational efficiencies, though recent weeks saw minor pullbacks from multi-month highs.
EL Overview and Recent Performance
The Estée Lauder Companies (EL), a prestige beauty powerhouse with brands like Clinique and Tom Ford, operates in skincare, makeup, and fragrances. Recent quarters showed skincare sales rising 6%, with Q2 revenue at $4.23 billion meeting forecasts and adjusted EPS of $0.89 topping estimates. Strategic moves, including full acquisition of Forest Essentials to expand in India, signal growth ambitions. However, sluggish Americas demand and broader turnaround efforts pressured shares, which trade near $92.72, with a $33.5 billion market cap and forward PE of 31x. Year-to-date return stands at 11.18%, with a strong 31.67% over one year, though recent dividend ex-date and volatility contributed to short-term declines. Investor sentiment reflects optimism for premium beauty recovery balanced against regional headwinds.
KMB Overview and Recent Performance
Kimberly-Clark (KMB), known for brands like Huggies and Kleenex, focuses on personal care and consumer tissue products. The company emphasizes productivity enhancements and cost restructuring, including a major Kenvue deal and new leadership appointments. Trading at about $104.58 with a $34.7 billion market cap and PE of 21.5x, KMB offers a 4.9% dividend yield, attracting income investors. Year-to-date performance is 4.94%, lagging peers but stable relative to broader declines, with one-year returns mixed amid prior underperformance. Recent activity highlights resilience through operational shifts, though shares remain below 52-week highs, influenced by sector pressures and strategic realignments.
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Head-to-Head Comparison
CL, EL, and KMB share consumer staples exposure but diverge in business models: CL dominates essentials like toothpaste with steady emerging-market drivers, while EL leans cyclical prestige beauty sensitive to luxury spending, and KMB emphasizes tissue/hygiene with high dividend appeal. Recent momentum favors CL's 19% YTD gains over EL's 11% and KMB's 5%, reflecting earnings strength versus regional softness. Valuation-wise, KMB's 21.5x PE contrasts CL's 35.6x, suggesting relative value amid productivity gains. Risk factors include EL's Americas exposure and competition, KMB's restructuring costs, and CL's premium pricing pressures. Market sentiment tilts toward defensive staples like CL and KMB in volatility.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Tickeron’s AI currently favors CL based on superior trend consistency, YTD outperformance, and catalysts like emerging markets growth and AI productivity, positioning it strongly relative to peers. While KMB offers stability and yield, and EL cyclical upside, CL's momentum suggests higher probability of near-term gains in defensive sectors.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full Disclaimers and Limitations.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
CL’s FA Score shows that 1 FA rating(s) are green whileEL’s FA Score has 0 green FA rating(s), and KMB’s FA Score reflects 2 green FA rating(s).
- CL’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
- EL’s FA Score: 0 green, 5 red.
- KMB’s FA Score: 2 green, 3 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
CL’s TA Score shows that 6 TA indicator(s) are bullish while EL’s TA Score has 4 bullish TA indicator(s), and KMB’s TA Score reflects 5 bullish TA indicator(s).
- CL’s TA Score: 6 bullish, 3 bearish.
- EL’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 5 bearish.
- KMB’s TA Score: 5 bullish, 3 bearish.
Price Growth
CL (@Household/Personal Care) experienced а +1.74% price change this week, while EL (@Household/Personal Care) price change was +4.86% , and KMB (@Household/Personal Care) price fluctuated +1.60% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Household/Personal Care industry was +0.96%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was +3.95%, and the average quarterly price growth was -8.44%.
Reported Earning Dates
CL is expected to report earnings on May 01, 2026.
EL is expected to report earnings on May 01, 2026.
KMB is expected to report earnings on Apr 28, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Household/Personal Care (+0.96% weekly)Household/Personal Care companies sell products for home cleaning and/or personal hygiene and grooming purposes. Products of this industry include detergents, shampoos, soaps, cosmetics, fabric conditioners and infant care fragrances. Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Estee Lauder and Colgate-Palmolive are some of the biggest names in the business. A lot of the products become a necessary part of people’s daily routine, and therefore the industry is relatively less vulnerable to macroeconomic downturns. At the same time, product quality, consumer safety, and ease of use are extremely critical factors for a company to survive competition and earn recognition in this industry.
| CL | EL | KMB | |
| Capitalization | 68.8B | 27.6B | 32.8B |
| EBITDA | 3.96B | 1.39B | 3.11B |
| Gain YTD | 9.258 | -27.006 | -0.822 |
| P/E Ratio | 32.63 | 147.80 | 20.34 |
| Revenue | 20.4B | 14.7B | 16.4B |
| Total Cash | 1.29B | 3.08B | 774M |
| Total Debt | 8.55B | 9.39B | 7.3B |
CL | EL | KMB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 65 | 4 | 60 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 98 Overvalued | 54 Fair valued | 15 Undervalued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 65 | 100 | 100 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 5 | 91 | 11 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 59 | 64 | 62 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 43 | 36 | 54 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 85 | 50 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
KMB's Valuation (15) in the Household Or Personal Care industry is somewhat better than the same rating for EL (54) and is significantly better than the same rating for CL (98). This means that KMB's stock grew somewhat faster than EL’s and significantly faster than CL’s over the last 12 months.
CL's Profit vs Risk Rating (65) in the Household Or Personal Care industry is somewhat better than the same rating for KMB (100) and is somewhat better than the same rating for EL (100). This means that CL's stock grew somewhat faster than KMB’s and somewhat faster than EL’s over the last 12 months.
CL's SMR Rating (5) in the Household Or Personal Care industry is in the same range as KMB (11) and is significantly better than the same rating for EL (91). This means that CL's stock grew similarly to KMB’s and significantly faster than EL’s over the last 12 months.
CL's Price Growth Rating (59) in the Household Or Personal Care industry is in the same range as KMB (62) and is in the same range as EL (64). This means that CL's stock grew similarly to KMB’s and similarly to EL’s over the last 12 months.
EL's P/E Growth Rating (36) in the Household Or Personal Care industry is in the same range as CL (43) and is in the same range as KMB (54). This means that EL's stock grew similarly to CL’s and similarly to KMB’s over the last 12 months.
| CL | EL | KMB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 46% | 2 days ago 67% | 2 days ago 43% |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 45% | 2 days ago 74% | 2 days ago 40% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 47% | 2 days ago 65% | 2 days ago 47% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 44% | 2 days ago 59% | 2 days ago 54% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 46% | 2 days ago 64% | 2 days ago 43% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 45% | 2 days ago 75% | 2 days ago 46% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 44% | 4 days ago 63% | 2 days ago 42% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 6 days ago 43% | 17 days ago 74% | 6 days ago 48% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 45% | 2 days ago 61% | 2 days ago 48% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 47% | 2 days ago 68% | 2 days ago 45% |
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| 1 Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ETFs / NAME | Price $ | Chg $ | Chg % |
| AVNM | 82.67 | 1.11 | +1.36% |
| Avantis All International Mkts Eq ETF | |||
| SNTH | 28.56 | 0.34 | +1.19% |
| MRP Synthequity ETF | |||
| SPTL | 26.44 | 0.24 | +0.92% |
| State Street SPDR Portfolio L/T Trs ETF | |||
| BDVG | 13.52 | 0.12 | +0.90% |
| iMGP Berkshire Dividend Growth ETF | |||
| PSTP | 35.88 | 0.13 | +0.38% |
| Innovator Power Buffer Step-Up Stgy ETF | |||
KMB and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, KMB has been loosely correlated with CL. These tickers have moved in lockstep 53% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is some statistical probability that if KMB jumps, then CL could also see price increases.