in the second quarter procter  gamble co raised prices even more it did than last quarter which led to a deeperthananticipated drop in demand but the branded consumer goods giant is ok with that as it still managed to keep pace with its peers investors didn’t seem ok with the fiscal secondquarter results however as concerns over the drop in shipment volume appeared to overshadow the fact that earnings met expectations and the fullyear sales outlook was raised the stock pg fell 08 in midday trading putting it on track for the lowest close since nov 18 before thursday’s opening bell pg reported sales for the quarter through dec 31 that fell 09 from a year ago to 2077 billion that edged past the average analyst estimate compiled by factset of 2073 billion but still marked the first yearoveryear decline in five years the reason it wasn’t a bigger decline was because pg said its prices were 10 higher than last year which was more than the previous quarter’s 9 hike in prices and well above the annual growth rate of consumer prices in december of 65 some analysts were expecting prices to rise in the 9 range the higher pricing helped mask an overall decline in shipment volume of 6 some analysts were expecting a decline in the 4 range the volume decline indicated that “elasticities” or how much demand is affected by changes in price were becoming less favorable meanwhile on the postearnings call with analysts the company maintained that elasticity remained “benign” one reason pg is not concerned about the volume decline is because volume share or how the company is performing relative to its peers is holding up globally and in the us which is pg’s “biggest and most important” market volume share actually accelerated by 05 over the past three months including a 08 improvement over the past month it was that volumeshare performance that gave company executives the confidence to lift the sales forecast the company now expects fiscal 2023 sales to be down 1 to flat from a year ago compared with previous guidance of down 3 to down 1 stifel nicolaus analyst mark astrachan said pg’s shares “are likely to underperform” given the sales and volume results and outlook he reiterated his hold rating on the shares pg also reported net income for the latest quarter that fell to 393 billion or 159 a share from 422 billion or 166 a share a year ago excluding nonrecurring items core earnings per share eps of 159 matched the factset consensus that may have disappointed investors as pg had beaten profit expectations in 19 of the past 20 quarters pg trimmed its estimate for the fullyear cost of raw material inflation foreign currency fluctuations and higher freight expenses to 37 billion or 150 a share from the previous estimate provided in october of 39 billion or 157 a share however the company kept its fullyear eps growth outlook unchanged at flat to up 4 the stock has rallied 115 over the past three months while the consumer staples select sector spdr exchangetraded fund xlp has advanced 56 and the sp 500 spx has tacked on 55