Kimberly-Clark beats sales estimates, keeps 2026 outlook amid cautious shoppers

Kimberly-Clark showed how a consumer-staples company can still grow when household budgets are squeezed: families kept buying diapers, tissues and other paper goods, but they did so with a sharper eye on price. Net sales rose 2.7% to $4.2 billion in the first quarter, above analyst expectations, while organic sales increased 2.5% and overall volumes climbed 2.6% even as pricing fell 0.5%.

That mix matters because it suggests demand has not broken, but it has become more disciplined. Kimberly-Clark said favorable currency added 2.0 percentage points to net sales, while the exit of its U.S. private-label diaper business cut 1.8 points from sales growth. Gross margin came in at 36.8%, with adjusted gross margin at 37.9%, down 60 basis points from a year earlier as lower prices and spending on innovation and supply-chain work weighed on profitability. Adjusted operating profit still rose 3.7% to $732 million.

Earnings were more mixed. Adjusted EPS from continuing operations fell 1.2% to $1.60, while diluted EPS attributable to Kimberly-Clark was $2.00 and adjusted EPS attributable to Kimberly-Clark rose 2.1% to $1.97. Mike Hsu said the quarter reflected resilient consumer demand, consumer-inspired innovation and productivity gains, and he said the company was building share momentum heading into a second quarter that he described as one of Kimberly-Clark’s strongest launch and commercial activation periods in years.

The Dallas-based company kept its full-year 2026 outlook unchanged, calling for mid-to-high single-digit adjusted operating profit growth and double-digit adjusted EPS growth on a constant-currency basis. For a market still looking for signs that higher prices and tighter spending are slowing the staples category, that guidance suggests Kimberly-Clark believes shoppers are cautious, but still willing to pay for trusted brands when the value proposition is right.

The first-quarter performance also comes as Kimberly-Clark pushes ahead with its planned acquisition of Kenvue Inc. of Summit, New Jersey. The companies announced the cash-and-stock deal on Nov. 3, 2025, valuing Kenvue at about $48.7 billion enterprise value and saying the combined company would hold 10 billion-dollar brands with $2.1 billion in expected run-rate synergies. Shareholders approved the merger on Jan. 29, 2026, and the companies still expect it to close in the second half of 2026, a transaction that could broaden Kimberly-Clark’s scale just as consumers keep hunting for deals.