It's been a rough ride for anyone holding Clorox lately. If you’ve looked at the price of clorox stock recently, you might have felt a bit of sticker shock—and not the good kind. As of mid-January 2026, the stock is hovering around $111. To put that in perspective, we are looking at levels we haven't seen in over a decade. Basically, the market has taken a giant eraser to years of gains, leaving investors wondering if the bleach giant has lost its luster or if this is just a massive "sale" on a legendary American brand.
Wall Street can be a cruel place for a "boring" consumer staple. While the tech sector has been off to the races, Clorox (CLX) spent most of 2025 in a tailspin, losing nearly 38% of its value. Honestly, it’s a bit jarring to see a company that owns 80% of the market share in its top categories get punished this hard. But there’s a method to the market's madness here, and it’s mostly tied to a messy tech transition that has left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
The ERP Headache and Why the Price of Clorox Stock Tanked
So, what happened? You can mostly blame three letters: ERP.
Clorox has been moving its entire business over to a new Enterprise Resource Planning system. If that sounds like boring back-office stuff, it is—until it isn't. To prepare for the switch, retailers stocked up like crazy at the end of fiscal 2025. They didn't want to run out of bleach or Glad bags if the computer system crashed during the transition.
This created a "phantom" boost in sales last year.
Now, in 2026, we are seeing the hangover. Retailers are working through that extra inventory, which means they aren't ordering new stuff from Clorox. The result? Net sales dropped a staggering 19% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Management warned us this was coming, but seeing a "minus 19%" on an earnings report still makes investors hit the sell button.
A Cyberattack Lingers in the Rearview
We also can't forget the 2023 cyberattack. It feels like ancient history in "internet years," but the recovery costs and the distribution hiccups from that event leaked into the 2025 fiscal year. It forced the company to spend heavily on digital security and productivity upgrades. Those investments are expensive. They eat into margins. When margins shrink, the price of clorox stock usually follows them down.
Is the 4.6% Dividend a Trap or a Treasure?
Here is where it gets interesting for the contrarians. Because the stock price has fallen so much, the dividend yield has shot up.
Right now, you’re looking at a yield of roughly 4.6% to 4.9%, depending on the daily fluctuations. For a company that has increased its dividend for 50 consecutive years, that’s a massive number. Clorox is officially a Dividend King. That's a rare club.
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Most "safe" consumer staple stocks like Procter & Gamble or Colgate-Palmolive usually yield much less. But Clorox is currently paying out a high percentage of its earnings to keep that streak alive—about 76% to 77%. Some analysts, like the folks over at Goldman Sachs, have been skeptical, recently slapping a "Sell" rating on the stock with a target as low as $94. They worry the recovery in distribution is taking too long.
On the flip side, many value investors see a "coiled spring." The average analyst price target is actually closer to $121. If the company can just get through this inventory drawdown and prove the new ERP system works, the earnings could potentially rebound in 2027.
The Real-World Pressure on Your Wallet
Let's talk about the grocery store. You've probably noticed that Clorox isn't exactly cheap anymore. Inflation hit the "cleaning" aisle hard.
To fight back, Clorox is trying something new:
- Smaller packaging: Kinda like "shrinkflation," but marketed as an "affordability option" for people who can't drop $15 on a giant tub of wipes.
- Bulk sizing: Doubling down on Costco and Sam’s Club for the families trying to save cents per ounce.
- New Tech: They just launched the "Pure Allergen Neutralizer" to try and capture the health-conscious market.
What to Watch for Next
If you are tracking the price of clorox stock, mark February 3, 2026, on your calendar. That is when the company drops its next earnings report. Analysts are looking for an earnings per share (EPS) of about $1.46.
If they beat that? The stock might finally find a floor. If they miss, or if they say retailers are still sitting on too much old bleach, we could see that $100 psychological barrier get tested.
Honestly, the company is in a weird spot. It has a high debt-to-equity ratio compared to its peers, and it’s basically in the middle of a "self-induced blunder" recovery. But it also owns brands like Pine-Sol, Brita, and Burt's Bees. People don't stop cleaning their bathrooms or feeding their cats (Fresh Step) just because the stock market is grumpy.
Actionable Insights for Investors
- Check the yield: If you're an income seeker, a 4.6% yield on a Dividend King is historically rare for CLX. Just be aware that the "payout ratio" is high, meaning there isn't much room for error.
- Watch the $100 level: Technically, the stock is approaching "oversold" territory on many charts. If it dips below $100, expect a lot of "buy the dip" chatter.
- Monitor the ERP transition: The company expects a 5% to 9% decline in organic sales for the full fiscal year 2026. Any update that suggests this decline is narrowing would be a huge "buy" signal.
- Diversification check: Don't let a high yield blind you to the fact that consumer staples were the worst-performing sector in 2025. It’s a defensive play, not a get-rich-quick one.
The bottom line is that Clorox is currently a "show me" story. The market has heard the excuses about cyberattacks and software transitions for two years. Now, investors want to see the shelves full and the margins back to pre-pandemic levels before they bid the price back up to old highs.