Procter & Gamble Earnings: Price, Productivity Juice Profits, but Headwinds Remain; Shares Heated

Up to this point, gross margin expansion has proven elusive across the consumer products arena for more than a year, but wide-moat Procter & Gamble bucked the trend in its fiscal third quarter with an increase of 150 basis points (to 48.2%) while also boasting 7% growth in organic sales (as a 10% price bump was partially offset by a modest 3% shortfall in volumes). Management alluded to moderating freight costs, but inflationary headwinds persist (serving as a 270-basis-point drag to the gross margin).