Kimberly-Clark reported nearly flat third-quarter sales and mixed earnings results, while reaffirming its 2026 standalone outlook. The quarter ended Sept. 30, before the company completed its transaction with Kenvue earlier this week.
The company said the Kenvue combination marks a new phase for Kimberly-Clark, which plans to apply its growth and productivity approach across the combined business. The results below are primarily for continuing operations and exclude its International Family Care and Professional business, which is classified as discontinued operations.
Third-quarter results
- Sales were $4.1 billion, down 0.4% from a year earlier. Organic sales, which exclude currency effects and other factors, fell 1.3%. Favorable currency impacts and sales under supply agreements with the Arbex joint venture partly offset the organic decline.
- Kimberly-Clark cited an approximately 270-basis-point drag on organic sales from a social media disruption in China, along with additional pressure from retailer inventory comparisons.
- Gross margin was 34.9%; adjusted gross margin was 35.5%, down 130 basis points from the prior year.
- Operating profit was $516 million, compared with adjusted operating profit of $677 million. Adjusted operating profit declined 0.9% year over year.
- Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.19. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.70, up 17.2% from a year earlier.
- On a broader basis, diluted earnings per share attributable to Kimberly-Clark were $5.37, while adjusted earnings per share attributable to the company were $1.70, down 6.6%. The continuing-operations and company-attributable figures use different scopes, so their year-over-year comparisons are not directly interchangeable.
Kenvue and outlook
- Kimberly-Clark said its transaction with Kenvue was completed earlier in the week. Chief Executive Mike Hsu described the combination as an opportunity to expand the company’s consumer-health reach and apply Kimberly-Clark’s operating capabilities across the combined business.
- The company reaffirmed its 2026 standalone outlook. The release text provided here does not include the outlook’s numerical targets.
The reported sales and profit figures reflect Kimberly-Clark’s continuing operations, excluding the International Family Care and Professional business. The Kenvue transaction, meanwhile, marks a strategic and organizational shift, though the results presented for the quarter do not include a full quarter of the combined company.