New York, Feb 19, 2026, 14:56 (EST) — Regular session underway.
- Procter & Gamble shares ticked up, with executives doubling down on their forecast for a second-half rebound and maintaining full-year guidance at CAGNY.
- Tide’s rollout of its “evo” detergent tile injected fresh momentum into the stock’s innovation story.
- The next big macro hurdle for traders: Friday’s PCE inflation report.
Shares of Procter & Gamble (PG.N) added about 0.6% to $157.73 in Thursday’s afternoon session. CEO Shailesh Jejurikar and CFO Andre Schulten reiterated to investors that their outlook for the year remains upbeat. “We expect sequential improvement in the second half,” Schulten said, with the company sticking to its fiscal 2026 guidance ranges. Investing
Stocks eked out a small advance while Wall Street sagged, weighed down by slumping megacap tech and a retreat in private-equity shares. “The market is trying to grapple with what business lines are under threat in a material way from AI,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. Reuters
P&G’s latest CAGNY presentation laid out the numbers: organic sales—excluding currency effects and portfolio tweaks—were essentially unchanged for the first half of fiscal 2026. Still, eight out of ten categories showed either growth or steady performance. The company stuck to its fiscal 2026 outlook, calling for organic sales growth between 0% and 4%, and core EPS growth of 0% to 4%. P&G also set adjusted free cash flow productivity in the 85% to 90% range, which tracks how well earnings turn into cash. Shares are up around 10% since the start of this year, according to the same materials.
This week brought a notable product launch: Tide introduced Tide evo, described by P&G as a waterless “fiber-detergent tile” and marketed as a new twist on laundry care. “Tide evo represents over ten years of innovation and product development,” said Marchoe Northern, president of P&G Fabric Care. Procter & Gamble
Axios described Tide evo as the brand’s most significant format shift since pods, noting that national shipments kick off April 4, though some stores may have it on shelves as early as March. The outlet also reported that P&G has secured roughly 50 patents covering both the design and how it’s made.
Wells Fargo bumped its price target on P&G up to $177 from $165, sticking with its Overweight call, per a note cited by TheFly. The bank said the target update was part of a broader reset across the sector.
P&G shares slipped 1.69% Wednesday, settling at $156.86 despite the S&P 500 moving up, according to MarketWatch. Volume came in above the stock’s 50-day average. The stock is recovering from that weak session.
P&G held up better than other staples names on Thursday. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (CL.N) dropped around 1.4%, Kimberly-Clark (KMB.N) lost about 1.7%, and the consumer staples ETF (XLP) slipped by about 0.7%.
The setup isn’t one-way traffic. Should shoppers keep holding back and deals ramp up, a sluggish first half could bleed into an even more challenging back end. And Tide evo? Still fighting for slots on shelves—and hoping shoppers come back for more.
Coming up next: Friday’s U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index—what the Fed looks at for inflation. The Bureau of Economic Analysis has it scheduled for Feb. 20.
