Clorox Co. CLX, -0.99% shares fell nearly 9% in the extended session Thursday after the maker of cleaning and other products got hit by lower margins and fewer sales amid “challenging” costs and inflation. Clorox said it earned $69 million, or 56 cents a share, in the fiscal second quarter, compared with $259 million, or $2.03 a share, in the year-ago quarter, mostly thanks to lower gross margin and lower net sales. Adjusted for one-time items, Clorox earned 66 cents a share. Net sales declined 8% to $1.69 billion, a far cry from a 27% increase in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Clorox to report adjusted earnings of 84 cents a share on sales of $1.66 billion. “In the face of a challenging cost environment, we’re executing well on the factors we control. We’re driving cost savings and pricing to mitigate inflationary headwinds, while also continuing to meet strong demand across our portfolio,” Chief Executive Linda Rendle said in a statement. The company tweaked its fiscal 2022 outlook to call for a sales decline of between 1% and 4% and adjusted EPS between $4.25 a share and $4.50 a share, down between 41% and 38%. Clorox stock ended the regular trading day down 1%.
