Morgan Stanley Reiterates Equal-Weight Rating on The Clorox Company on Strong Q2 EPS

In a report published Monday, Morgan Stanley reiterated its Equal-Weight rating on The Clorox Company

. Morgan Stanley noted, “Clorox 2Q EPS of $0.93 ($0.90 ex-item) were well ahead of the $0.81 consensus. Q2 was above consensus across the board with 4% revenue, 5% gross profit, and +12% operating profit upside vs. the Street. The quarter did benefit from shipments coming in ahead of underlying demand in bleach, an extra day, and lower A&P than we expected, but still produced solid upside vs. consensus ex these factors. Organic sales growth of ~5.5% (ex-extra selling day) came in ahead of the Street at +LSD, driven by ~2% pricing and ~3.5% volume (ex-extra selling day). FY guidance was only raised by 5 cents on the low-end, with VZ devaluation risk raised to 5-10 cents from 5 cents, and CLX management typically conservative, but a solid Q2 beat should be well received today.” The Clorox Company closed on Friday at $79.16.