Unilever Posts 2.3% Price Growth and 5.2% Underlying Sales Growth in Third Quarter
Key Facts
Unilever posted underlying sales growth of 5.2% in the third quarter of 2026, comprising 2.9% volume growth and 2.3% price growth, according to the company’s statement. Revenue was 13.3 billion euros, up 6.7% from the same period a year earlier. The price figure reflects the contribution of pricing to sales growth and does not mean a uniform increase across all products. Chief Executive Fernando Fernandez said the company had seen "price increases to offset the impact of higher commodity costs." He added that strong volume performance gives the company confidence in its outlook. The quarter’s growth therefore combined higher volumes and prices, with the contribution of those factors varying across segments.
Home Care delivered the strongest performance among the segments cited, with underlying sales up 9.1%, driven by volume growth of 5.4% and price growth of 3.6%. In Personal Care, underlying sales rose 6.3%, with volumes up 3.8% and prices up 2.4%. The company said price growth accelerated as planned during the quarter, reflecting higher commodity costs, particularly in these two segments. This places the price increases in the context of input cost pressures as described in the company’s statement, rather than attributing them to a cause it did not cite. The figures for the two segments also show that sales growth did not depend on pricing alone, as volume growth exceeded price growth in both.
By contrast, underlying Food sales growth remained close to zero at 0.1%, with volumes down 1.1% and prices up 1.3%. The divergence between prices and volumes highlights that price increases in the segment did not prevent volumes from contracting during the quarter. By market, underlying sales growth was 9.5% in emerging markets, while developed markets recorded a 0.9% decline. In developed markets, volumes fell 1.7%, while prices rose 0.7%, according to the company’s breakdown. This geographic divergence places part of the strength in the overall figure in emerging markets, against weaker sales and volumes in developed markets.
Unilever linked its upcoming pricing plans to commodity costs, expecting those costs to contribute to faster price growth in Home Care during the rest of the year. In its 2026 guidance, the company raised its forecast for underlying volume growth to at least 3%, while maintaining its underlying sales growth target within its multi-year range of 4% to 6%. It also forecast underlying sales growth of about 5% in the second half of the year. The guidance indicates that the company is betting on continued volume growth alongside pricing, while expecting commodity costs to continue pressuring prices. The company scheduled an investor event for 4 November 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern time.
The quarterly results come as other consumer companies have publicly discussed the impact of war-related costs on prices. In April 2026, Unilever Chief Financial Officer Srinivas Vathak said the company planned to raise prices by about 2% to 3% in small increments to address higher costs linked to the war. The Associated Press at the time linked higher diesel prices to the cost of transporting everyday goods, noting that the average price was about $5.50 a gallon in April, compared with $3.76 before the war, citing the American Automobile Association. On 27 October, EL7 published a story about Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble warning of price increases in 2027 because of war-related costs. Unilever’s current earnings statement, meanwhile, attributes price growth to higher commodity costs and specifically mentions Home Care and Personal Care.
In trading, Unilever shares fell about 2% on 28 October after the results were announced, despite sales growth exceeding analysts’ expectations, according to Investing.com, which pointed to weakness in developed markets. EL7 data recorded the close of the share with the ticker ul at 65.05 on 27 October. That data does not identify the exchange or type of listing, so the closing figure alone does not clarify the associated trading market. The share decline came in the session after the announcement, according to the report, which linked the move to weakness in developed markets. The investor event scheduled for 4 November remains the company’s next announced date.