Procter & Gamble reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations on Tuesday aided by investments the company is making to develop new products and boost advertising.
In the fiscal-fourth quarter ended June 30, P&G said it earned 79 cents a share, excluding items. The company had been expected to earn 74 cents a share, on average, according to Thomson First call.
While revenue fell 2.8 percent to $16.1 billion from $16.55 billion, it topped Wall Street's average estimates of $15.83 billion.
"The fourth quarter was another period of progress driving P&G's results to a balance of strong top-line growth, bottom-line growth and cash generation," CEO David Taylor said in a statement. "We grew organic volume and sales in all reporting segments. We increased investments in innovation and advertising, funded by strong productivity improvement."
The results are good news for Taylor, who has been at the helm less than a year. Before the bell, shares of the company were up as much as 1.2 percent.
Still, P&G has been struggling to grow revenue consistently and to develop products large enough to move the needle at the company, which is the world's largest consumer products maker. One strategy has been its cost-cutting efforts — begun under Taylor's predecessor A.G. Lafley — which are making the company more nimble.
P&G is targeting another $10 billion in cost cuts over the next five years, much of which will be reinvested to drive top-line growth, Jon Moeller, P&G's chief financial officer said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Tuesday.
P&G saw the strongest organic volume growth in its health-care segment, where this metric rose 5 percent driven by increased marketing spending in oral care and a late cough and cold season. The company also was able to raise prices in both oral care and personal health care.
P&G owns the Crest and Oral-B brands and Vicks.
Organic volume growth also rose at all of the company's other segments, with beauty up 1 percent; and its grooming, fabric and home care, and its baby, feminine and family care division each posting a 2 percent gain.
In addition, the company reported that its China division, its second-largest market in terms of sales and profit, had seen sales improve during the fiscal fourth-quarter.
Sales in the division had been down 8 percent in the fiscal second quarter and down 4 percent in the fiscal third quarter.
"We see it sequentially improving," Taylor said of the China division, noting that the company expects to see more innovation designed specifically for the country in the next 12 to 18 months.
"Moving from one child households to two child households, moving from manufacturing-based economy to hopefully more of a consumption-based economy, it's a very important market for us." Moeller told CNBC. "We have a little bit of work to do to get our portfolio balanced and get in the right channels of distribution, but...we're making strong progress."
Outlook for 2017
The company projects that organic sales will grow 2 percent for fiscal 2017, but will likely face headwinds from foreign exchange and brand divestitures.
"Looking forward, we're committed to continued productivity improvement and cost savings that provide the fuel for innovation and investments needed to accelerate and sustain faster top-line growth," Taylor said. "We expect fiscal 2017 to mark another significant step toward our goal of balanced growth and value creation and total shareholder return in the top third of our competitive peer group."
The company forecasts its fiscal 2017 GAAP earnings per share will include about 10 cents per share of non-core restructuring costs and a gain from the divestiture of 41 beauty brands to Coty slated for October 2016.
On average, analysts expect the P&G's revenue to grow 1 percent in 2017, versus the prior year, according to Thomson Reuters.
Shares in P&G are up nearly 13 percent year over year, outpacing the Dow Jones industrial average, which is up about 4 percent over the same time period.