Q2 2026 Kimberly-Clark Corp Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Delivered 10th consecutive quarter of solid volume plus mix growth and held global weighted share.
- Achieved industry-leading gross productivity of 6.4% in Q2, driving strong operating profit and EPS ahead of expectations.
- Received a $45 million tariff refund in Q2, which helped offset incremental costs and support bottom-line performance.
- Unveiled a proprietary alternative natural fiber innovation program with potential to enhance product performance, reduce cost volatility, and advance sustainability goals.
- Completed the successful launch of Arbex, a strategic joint venture with Suzano, and made strong progress on Kenvue integration planning, with synergy execution running ahead of expectations.
- Organic sales in Q2 came in about 100 basis points below expectations, driven by China diaper disruption and trade inventory reductions in North America.
- China diaper business faced a significant disruption due to unsubstantiated claims, with no sequential deterioration but no positive inflection yet, creating uncertainty for the balance of the year.
- North America consumer shipments lagged consumption by 170 basis points, impacted by the L.A. distribution center fire and retailer inventory movements, including an unanticipated channel-specific reduction in adult care.
- Category growth moderated to about 2% trailing 12 months, with consumers under increased pressure and greater variability in consumption, especially among lower-income segments.
- Expects $150 million of gross input cost headwinds in the second half of 2026, primarily due to higher oil-linked costs, which will require mitigating actions to offset.
Good morning, and welcome to the Kimberly-Clark second-quarter 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions)
I will now hand the floor over to Chris Jakubik, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. This is Chris Jakubik, Head of Investor Relations at Kimberly-Clark, and thank you for joining us. I would like to remind everyone that during our comments today, we will make some forward-looking statements that are based on how we see things today. Actual results may differ due to risks and uncertainties, and these are discussed in our earnings release and our filings with the SEC. We will also discuss some non-GAAP financial measures during these remarks.
These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a replacement for and should be read together with GAAP results. And you can find the GAAP and the reconciliations within our earnings release and the supplemental materials posted at investor.kimberly-clark.com.
With that,
| Access to All Earning Calls and Stock Analysis | |
| 30-Year Financial on one screen | |
| All-in-one Stock Screener with unlimited filters | |
| Customizable Stock Dashboard | |
| Real Time Insider Trading Transactions | |
| 8,000+ Institutional investors’ 13F holdings | |
| Powerful Excel Add-in and Google sheets Add-on | |
| All data downloadable | |
| Quick customer support | |
| And much more... |
Trustpilot
We'd love to learn more about your experiences on GuruFocus.com and how we can improve!
Take Survey
