Kimberly-Clark Shares Drop After Earnings Miss, Guidance Cut

Kimberly-Clark Corp. shares fell 3.8% in Monday premarket trading after the company reported third-quarter earnings that missed consensus and cut its full-year guidance. The company, whose brands include Kleenex, Kotex and Huggies, reported net income of $550 million, or $1.52 per share, up from $517 million, or 88 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings totaled $1.52, below the FactSet consensus was for $1.54. Revenue totaled $4.59 billion, down from $4.72 billion last year and below the FactSet estimate of $4.73 billion. Kimberly-Clark expects full-year sales growth of 2% compared with previous guidance for the low-end of 3% to 5% growth. Adjusted earnings are expected to be $5.95 to $6.05, compared with previous guidance of $5.95 to $6.15. The company expects its restructuring program, launched in 2014, to be complete by the end of 2016 with costs expected to be on the high end of a range of $130 million to $160 million, after taxes. Kimberly-Clark shares are down 6.1% for 2016 so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.8% for the same period.