Unilever Plc's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Unilever Plc (ULVR) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Unilever Plc vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 57,100M vs 302,065M combined for its competitors (15.9% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+296.2% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs holding steady (+0.2%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: Unilever Plc generated -16.9% revenue growth year over year in Q4 2025, vs 4.7% for its competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its 19.8% net margin compares with 13.6% for the peer group.
- Peer revenue share: Unilever Plc accounted for 42.8% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, down from 48.5% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $0.59M compares with $0.59M for the peer group (1.0x).
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
ULVR Sales vs. its Competitors, Q4 2025
Unilever Plc reported revenue contraction of 16.88 % year on year in Q4 2025, below its competitors' combined revenue growth of 4.74 %.
With a net margin of 19.82 %, Unilever Plc achieved higher profitability than its competitors (13.59 %).
Unilever Plc generated 42.76 % of the combined sales of its peer group, down from 48.49 % a year earlier.
API endpoints for this dataset
Unilever Plc vs. its Competitors, Q4 2025
Revenue growth, year on year
Net income growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in Unilever Plc reports; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across Unilever Plc and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| High-Confidence Competitors (12) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Similar Growth & Profitability (7) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across Unilever Plc's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Personal & Household Products industry grew revenue 0.7% year over year, combined, vs -16.9% for Unilever Plc. Unilever Plc's share of combined industry revenue moved from 36.05% to 29.76%, a loss of 6.29 percentage points.
Unilever Plc's Competitor Quality Breadth
Group definitions: see Methodology: Performance Group Definitions.
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Competitors combined (24) | ||||
| High-Confidence Competitors (13) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 75.00 % (6 of 8) | 37.50 % (3 of 8) | 0.00 % (0 of 8) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
ULVR Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
ULVR Stock Performance relative to High-Confidence Competitors
ULVR Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horizon Kinetics Holding Corporation | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | Sealed Air Corp | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 3 | Newell Brands Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 4 | The Honest Company Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 5 | Edgewell Personal Care Company | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Unilever Plc's best-performing competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Publicly Traded Peers of Unilever Plc
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
 Unilever Plc |
- | 57,099.78 |
 Johnson and Johnson |
676,352.29 | 99,335.00 |
 Procter and Gamble Co |
398,150.88 | 87,922.00 |
 Ecolab Inc |
84,821.83 | 17,679.70 |
 Colgate palmolive Company |
77,219.03 | 21,284.00 |
 Est e Lauder Companies Inc |
40,292.97 | 15,283.00 |
| SUBTOTAL | 1,377,852.44 | 359,166.80 |
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Sources: see Methodology: Peer & Competitor Identification, Sourcing.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Unilever Plc versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Unilever Plc's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from Unilever Plc reports and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Est e Lauder Companies Inc | Company report | 85% |
| The Honest Company Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Olaplex Holdings Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Edgewell Personal Care Company | Company report | 85% |
| Church and Dwight Co Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Starco Brands Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Nightfood Holdings Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Beyond Meat Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Grove Collaborative Holdings Inc | Company report | 85% |
| The Alkaline Water Company Inc | Company report | 85% |
| The Hain Celestial Group Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Coca Cola Co | Company report | 85% |
| Helen Of Troy Limited | Company report | 85% |
| Waldencast Plc | Company report | 85% |
| E l f Beauty Inc | Company report | 85% |
| The Clorox Company | Company report | 85% |
| Procter and Gamble Co | Company report | 85% |
| Johnson and Johnson | Company report | 85% |
| Colgate palmolive Company | Company report | 85% |
| Kimberly clark Corporation | Company report | 85% |
Company report basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Unilever Plc's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: see Methodology: Peer & Competitor Identification, Sourcing.
Unilever Plc's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| Johnson and Johnson | Oncology 29.93 % |
| Procter and Gamble Co | Fabric & Home Care 35.25 % |
| Ecolab Inc | Water Services 51.14 % |
| Colgate palmolive Company | Oral, Personal and Home Care 77.56 % |
| Kimberly clark Corporation | North America (NA) 66.23 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's reports (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Unilever Plc's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | - | 594,789 | 117,903 |
| Johnson and Johnson | 676,352 | 705,504 | 114,311 |
| Procter and Gamble Co | 398,151 | 845,404 | 154,750 |
| Ecolab Inc | 84,822 | 368,327 | 43,650 |
| Colgate palmolive Company | 77,219 | 633,452 | 63,899 |
| Est e Lauder Companies Inc | 40,293 | 277,873 | 6,691 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 1,377,852 | 586,273 | 78,334 |
Unilever Plc's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent report. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Johnson and Johnson | United States 58.90 % |
| Procter and Gamble Co | Non-US 52.05 % |
| E l f Beauty Inc | United States 66.56 % |
| Sealed Air Corp | Americas 64.01 % |
| Wd 40 Company | Non-US 65.69 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's reports (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
Unilever Plc's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Personal & Household Products industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (54 companies). See the full Personal & Household Products industry profitability benchmarks.| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 0.00 % | 37.69 % (avg) | -37.7 pp |
| Operating Margin | 17.89 % | industry median | +8.8 pp |
| EBITDA Margin | 35.44 % | 6.77 % (avg) | +28.7 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 2.81 % | 3.23 % (avg) | -0.4 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
Unilever Plc's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in company reports.| Metric | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | -11.67 % | 1.58 % | 0.56 % |
| Operating Margin | 17.41 % | 16.82 % | 17.89 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 12.08 % | 11.63 % | 13.37 % |
| P/E | - | - | - |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
Unilever Plc's Strategic Group Map
Unilever Plc is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC are labeled. See Methodology: Strategic Group Map for how this chart is built.
Unilever Plc's trailing-12-month revenue growth of 0.6% and operating margin of 17.9% compares with an average of 1.2% growth and 17.5% margin across its 8 closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC -- Unilever Plc sits below that peer average on growth and above it on margin.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
Unilever Plc's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Barriers to Entry | Moderate, in line with the industry | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 2.81 % vs industry average 3.23 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
Note: see Methodology: Porter's Five Forces. Supplier power and buyer power are covered on Unilever Plc's dedicated Suppliers and Customers pages, not here.
Unilever Plc's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
See Methodology: GE/McKinsey Matrix for how the two axes are built.
Unilever Plc falls in the Low attractiveness / High strength cell: Selective.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Unilever Plc's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Operating margin 8.8 points above the industry median.
- Return on equity 27.8 points above the industry aggregate.
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+296.2% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
Weaknesses
No rule matched.
Opportunities
No rule matched.
Threats
- Losing revenue share to the broader industry (-6.3 points over the past year).
Methodology: see Methodology: SWOT Analysis.
Unilever Plc's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | 0.18 | 0.79 | 0.01 |
| Johnson and Johnson | 0.36 | 1.04 | 0.60 |
| Procter and Gamble Co | 0.26 | 0.71 | 0.71 |
| Ecolab Inc | 0.29 | 1.26 | 1.72 |
| Colgate palmolive Company | 0.22 | 0.96 | 15.33 |
| Est e Lauder Companies Inc | 0.04 | 1.26 | 1.86 |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Unilever Plc's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | Q4 2025 | +0.6 % | +64.2 % |
| Johnson and Johnson | Q3 2026 | +5.9 % | -95.9 % |
| Procter and Gamble Co | Q3 2026 | +4.0 % | -1.0 % |
| Ecolab Inc | Q3 2026 | +16.4 % | -6.5 % |
| Colgate palmolive Company | Q3 2026 | +4.6 % | -2.0 % |
| Est e Lauder Companies Inc | Q3 2026 | +6.7 % | +395.7 % |
| PEERS TOTAL | +3.5 % | -4.3 % |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Unilever Plc's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | Q4 2025 | +0.7 % | +7.2 % |
| Johnson and Johnson | Q3 2026 | +10.9 % | +17.7 % |
| Procter and Gamble Co | Q3 2026 | +7.3 % | +13.8 % |
| Ecolab Inc | Q3 2026 | +14.2 % | +19.8 % |
| Colgate palmolive Company | Q3 2026 | +2.6 % | -13.5 % |
| Est e Lauder Companies Inc | Q3 2026 | -2.7 % | -28.1 % |
Unilever Plc's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | 13.69% | 20.28% | 54.84% |
| Johnson and Johnson | 8.06% | 10.53% | 19.55% |
| Procter and Gamble Co | 12.54% | 17.47% | 29.71% |
| Ecolab Inc | 7.57% | 7.61% | 20.76% |
| Colgate palmolive Company | 12.92% | 20.06% | 417.50% |
| Est e Lauder Companies Inc | 1.86% | 2.63% | 9.37% |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Unilever Plc's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Unilever Plc | - | - |
| Johnson and Johnson | 41.79 | 6.81 |
| Procter and Gamble Co | 25.02 | 4.53 |
| Ecolab Inc | 41.02 | 4.80 |
| Colgate palmolive Company | 37.79 | 3.63 |
| Est e Lauder Companies Inc | 110.06 | 2.64 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 26.66 | 3.84 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.