P&G’s CEO Says You’re Doing Less Laundry… So They’re Doing Less Employment

If you’ve been reading The Final Tally lately, there’s been a pretty obvious pattern developing: the S&P 500 is up 13% on the year, the Nasdaq’s ripping even higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average? Well… it’s barely treading water, up just 8.35%.

Now, the Dow isn’t totally useless… it’s just kinda like my dad’s old minivan. Reliable, slow, ugly, and always smells faintly of McDonald’s fries. But one of the biggest reasons it’s dragging its feet lately is a little company called Procter & Gamble… aka the maker of your mom’s favorite cleaning supplies and the only reason your socks ever smelled fresh in college. There’s no other way to put it, P&G has been going through it. Over the last year the stock is down .06% (flatter than my IKEA desk after assembly). So to combat this underperformance, the company just announced it’s cutting 7,000 jobs (about 6% of its total workforce) over the next two years. And no, they’re not laying off the guy in the lab coat who invents new Tide scents every six months. But the folks upstairs? Not so safe.

The announcement came just weeks after a pretty underwhelming earnings report. P&G’s sales fell 2%, and earnings eked out just a 1% gain. Analysts weren’t impressed.The reason? Well, P&G isn’t saying it’s broke, but it’s definitely not rolling in it either. They just lowered full-year sales and EPS guidance thanks to (you guessed it) tariffs, cautious consumers, and global uncertainty. The holy trinity of excuses in 2025. CEO Jon Moeller even said that while people aren’t necessarily switching to cheaper products, they are doing fewer loads of laundry per week to save detergent (not sure how he has the data to back this up, but these guys will say whatever they can to justify a bad quarter).

Since its meh earnings report, P&G stock has dipped 3%, while the S&P 500 has rallied more than 8% and even the boring ole Dow is up over 5%. In fact, P&G is trading closer to its 52-week low than its high. To me, that’s not “buy the dip” territory, that’s “should we unplug it?” energy. Analysts have started trimming their expectations too. Forecasted earnings for next year have been cut noticeably, and the company is now guiding for just 2% organic sales growth and flat total sales. Pretty much the same performance you’d expect from that weird high school friend trying to make six figures selling MLMs on Instagram (you just thought of someone, didn’t you?).

And the cost pressures are stacking up too. Between commodity prices, currency fluctuations, and tariff drag, earnings are getting pinched harder than we’ve ever seen. So, is the stock still worth a premium? Well, sort of. P&G’s still got the brand power and blue-chip reputation, which helps it command a 23.3x forward P/E. But it’s looking a little pricey compared to Clorox (19.9x), Unilever (18.3x), and Albertsons (10.1x). So either P&G is still the Rihanna of consumer staples… or she’s lost a step and is charging stadium prices for a karaoke night (but hey, all the good ones fall off eventually).

P&G’s trying to get back to those squeaky-clean earnings days, but right now it’s stuck in a spin cycle (yeah, I cringed at that one too). While the Nasdaq and S&P keep powering ahead on tech momentum and AI hype, the dividend-loaded Dow is lagging… dragged down by companies like P&G that are in freak out mode to protect their margins… and getting zero benefit of the doubt in the process. Meta says “AI” and Wall Street hits “BUY.” But for P&G, it’s harder to take advantage of the AI hype when your biggest innovation is lavender-scented detergent.

So next time you see the Dow just kinda floating along like a lazy river... thank your old pal Procter & Gamble. And maybe do a laundry load or two while you’re at it (because they’ve cracked the code and installed spy cams in America’s laundry rooms.)

Stock.News has positions in McDonald’s, Procter and Gamble, and Meta.