Kimberly-Clark Corp. KMB, +1.34% shares fell 2.7% in Monday premarket trading after the consumer goods company reported third-quarter earnings that missed expectations and lowered its earnings guidance. Net income totaled $469 million, or $1.39 per share, compared with $472 million, or $1.38 per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of $1.62 missed the FactSet consensus for $1.65. Sales of $5.01 billion were up from $4.68 billion last year and ahead of the FactSet consensus for $4.99 billion. “Our earnings were negatively impacted by significant inflation and supply chain disruptions that increased our costs beyond what we anticipated,” said Chief Executive Mike Hsu in a statement. “We are taking further action, including additional pricing and enhanced cost management, to mitigate these headwinds as it is becoming clear they are not likely to be resolved quickly.” A global restructuring program announced in 2018 is expected to be complete at the end of the year with total charges of $2.1 billion to $2.2 billion pre-tax, and pre-tax annual savings of $550 million to $560 million by the end of 2021. Kimberly-Clark narrowed its sales forecast to growth of 1% to 2% compared to previous guidance of 1% to 4%. Adjusted EPS guidance was lowered to $6.05 to $6.25 from previous guidance of $6.65 to $6.90. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $19.418 billion, implying growth of 1.5%, and EPS of $6.70. Kimberly-Clark stock has fallen 1.3% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.11% has gained 21% for the period.
View Article Origin Here
