{"id":92154,"date":"2026-07-28T17:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/92154\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T17:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:41:08","slug":"unilever-plc-ul-q2-2026-earnings-call-highlights-strong-volume-growth-and-strategic-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/92154\/","title":{"rendered":"Unilever PLC (UL) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Volume Growth and Strategic Market …"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article first appeared on GuruFocus<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Release Date: July 28, 2026 <\/p>\n

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Positive Points <\/p>\n

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL<\/a>) reported strong volume-led growth with underlying sales growth of 5.8% in the second quarter, marking the best quarterly volume performance since 2010. <\/p>\n

The company’s power brands, which now account for 78% of turnover, delivered underlying sales growth of 6.9% in the second quarter, driven by strong volume growth. <\/p>\n

Emerging markets showed robust performance with 8.3% growth in the second quarter, led by India with a 10% increase in underlying sales. <\/p>\n

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL<\/a>) achieved a 10 basis points margin expansion and earnings growth of 2.4% in hard currency, demonstrating effective cost management. <\/p>\n

The company successfully leveraged cultural events like the FIFA World Cup to enhance brand engagement and market presence, involving over 50,000 content creators and reaching a combined audience of more than 600 million people. <\/p>\n

Negative Points <\/p>\n

Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL<\/a>) faced challenges in the foods segment, with growth slowing to 0.2% in the second quarter due to increased competition in premium segments in North America and Europe. <\/p>\n

The oral care business underperformed compared to other segments, with low single-digit growth and increased competition impacting market share. <\/p>\n

Currency fluctuations negatively impacted first-half turnover by 4.9%, although this effect is expected to moderate in the second half. <\/p>\n

The company anticipates potential market disruptions in Brazil due to upcoming tax reforms, which could lead to temporary retail stock reductions in the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n

Despite strong overall performance, the skincare segment experienced low single-digit growth, with legacy brands like Glow & Lovely and Ponds facing challenges in rapidly premiumizing markets. <\/p>\n

Q & A Highlights <\/p>\n

Q: Can you discuss the resilience of Unilever’s performance, especially in light of potential price increases in the second half of the year? How confident are you in maintaining volume growth? A: We are pleased with our strong volume growth, which is the best in over 15 years. Our performance is resilient and broad-based, with significant contributions from emerging markets like India and China. We have a diversified portfolio that provides resilience against volatility. We are confident in maintaining our market share and expect continued growth, even with price increases. <\/p>\n

Story continues <\/p>\n

Q: What is Unilever’s perspective on the destocking issue in the US, and how is the oral care business performing? A: We have observed some destocking in the US, particularly in foods, but it is not material at the company level. Our oral care business has grown low single-digits, and while we are not satisfied with this performance, we are addressing increased competition and have plans to improve in the second half. <\/p>\n

Q: Can you provide an update on the McCormick deal and discuss the US market performance, particularly in categories like Liquid IV? A: We are making good progress with the McCormick deal, with key milestones on track. In the US, we have seen broad-based growth across categories like deodorants, skin cleansing, and prestige beauty. Liquid IV has returned to double-digit growth, and we are addressing challenges in the foods segment with targeted innovations. <\/p>\n

Q: How is Unilever handling the tax reform in Brazil, and what impact will it have on the business? A: The Brazil tax reform is transitioning to a dual VAT system, which will affect reported revenue and costs but is designed to be revenue-neutral. We expect some market disruptions in Q4 due to customer adjustments, but the overall profitability of the business will remain unchanged. <\/p>\n

Q: What are the expectations for pricing and volume growth in the second half, and how does Unilever view price elasticity? A: We expect pricing to lead growth in the second half, with some volume sensitivities. Our portfolio is increasingly premiumized, which typically results in lower elasticity. We are cautious in our guidance, considering potential volume slowdowns with price increases, but remain confident in our strategic pricing positions. <\/p>\n

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: July 28, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[20694],"tags":[39352,273,39351,12213,20782,21055],"class_list":["post-92154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-unilever","tag-earnings-call-transcript","tag-earnings-growth","tag-market-disruptions","tag-unilever","tag-unilever-plc","tag-volume-growth"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116998837907436526","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}