By Elias Schisgall

Kimberly-Clark reported a higher profit and rising sales in the first quarter, citing product innovation and resilient consumer demand.

Chief Executive Mike Hsu said Tuesday that the household products company continued to build share momentum during the quarter despite macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.

"We accomplished this by driving consumer-inspired innovation, growing brand love and executing exceptionally well as a team," Hsu said. "Simultaneously, we continue to generate meaningful cost savings that reinforce our strong financial foundation and enable us to invest in our exciting future."

The maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers reported a profit of $665 million, or $2 a share. That compares with a profit of $567 million, or $1.70 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, the company logged adjusted earnings of $1.97 a share, ahead of Wall Street's expectation of $1.93 a share, according to FactSet.

The $1.97 figure includes a 13-cent contribution from Kimberly-Clark's acquisition of Tylenol and Listerine maker Kenvue, the company said. The $40 billion acquisition is expected to close in the second half of the year.

"With our core business gaining momentum and one of the strongest innovation and commercial activation lineups in our history set to launch in the second quarter, we're preparing Kimberly-Clark to unlock the unique, generational value creation opportunity ahead with the acquisition of Kenvue," Hsu said.

Net sales rose 2.7% to $4.16 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $4.09 billion in sales.

Kimberly-Clark said it continues to expect organic sales growth this year to be in line with or ahead of the weighted average growth of the categories and countries in which it operates. Analysts are expecting $17.42 billion in 2026 sales.

The company also continues to expect adjusted earnings per share remaining flat on a constant-currency basis year over year. The company posted adjusted earnings of $7.53 a share in 2025, and analysts expect $7.49 a share in adjusted earnings this year.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2026 06:30 ET (10:30 GMT)

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