Kimberly-Clark shares rise after earnings blow past expectations, share repurchase program restarted
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) stock rose 2.7% in Thursday premarket trading after the Kleenex parent reported second-quarter earnings that blew past the FactSet forecast. Net income totaled $681 million, or $1.99 per share, up from $485 million, or $1.40 per share, last year. Adjusted EPS hit a record $2.20, blowing past the FactSet consensus for $1.80. Sales of $4.61 billion rose slightly from $4.59 billion last year and beat the FactSet consensus for $4.46 billion. Consumer tissue sales rose 12% to $1.6 billion. Kimberly-Clark will restart its share repurchase program after suspending it in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. It expects share repurchases to total $700 million to $900 million for the year. The company has also given full-year 2020 guidance after withdrawing it in April. It now expects net sales to rise 1% to 2%, and adjusted EPS of $7.40 to $7.60. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $18.61 billion, up 0.9% from last year, and EPS of $7.55. Kimberly-Clark stock has gained nearly 5% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index is up 1.4% for the period.
-Tonya Garcia; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 23, 2020 07:54 ET (11:54 GMT)
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