On the filing day, the part of Kimberly-Clark's move that the peer basket did not share was 4.5%. The company kept its 2026 outlook unchanged. In the published accounts, which reach 2026Q2, growth is thin and running costs are heavier.
Kimberly-Clark told us early, and the stock moved with it
Kimberly-Clark pre-announced. On 15 October 2026 it filed early, unaudited numbers for the quarter ended September 2026 and said the full-year plan had not moved. The company said its 「outlook for 2026 remains consistent with previous expectations」. Final figures are due on 5 November 2026.
Data table
| day | series | value | series_role |
|---|---|---|---|
| -10 | Kimberly-Clark | -3.2% | target |
| -9 | Kimberly-Clark | -3.2% | target |
| -8 | Kimberly-Clark | -2.1% | target |
| -7 | Kimberly-Clark | -0.7% | target |
| -6 | Kimberly-Clark | -1.0% | target |
| -5 | Kimberly-Clark | 0.3% | target |
| -4 | Kimberly-Clark | 0.2% | target |
| -3 | Kimberly-Clark | 1.4% | target |
| -2 | Kimberly-Clark | 0.9% | target |
| -1 | Kimberly-Clark | 2.0% | target |
| 0 | Kimberly-Clark | 6.8% | target |
| 1 | Kimberly-Clark | 8.4% | target |
| 2 | Kimberly-Clark | 8.2% | target |
| 3 | Kimberly-Clark | 11.2% | target |
| 4 | Kimberly-Clark | 9.5% | target |
| 5 | Kimberly-Clark | 15.3% | target |
| -10 | Peer basket | -0.7% | peer |
| -9 | Peer basket | -0.5% | peer |
| -8 | Peer basket | 1.0% | peer |
| -7 | Peer basket | 2.3% | peer |
| -6 | Peer basket | 2.2% | peer |
| -5 | Peer basket | 3.5% | peer |
| -4 | Peer basket | 3.9% | peer |
| -3 | Peer basket | 5.6% | peer |
| -2 | Peer basket | 5.7% | peer |
| -1 | Peer basket | 8.5% | peer |
| 0 | Peer basket | 8.7% | peer |
| 1 | Peer basket | 10.3% | peer |
| 2 | Peer basket | 9.5% | peer |
| 3 | Peer basket | 11.2% | peer |
| 4 | Peer basket | 9.8% | peer |
| 5 | Peer basket | 14.8% | peer |
| -10 | Cumulative abnormal return | -2.5% | neutral |
| -9 | Cumulative abnormal return | -2.7% | neutral |
| -8 | Cumulative abnormal return | -3.0% | neutral |
| -7 | Cumulative abnormal return | -2.9% | neutral |
| -6 | Cumulative abnormal return | -3.1% | neutral |
| -5 | Cumulative abnormal return | -3.1% | neutral |
| -4 | Cumulative abnormal return | -3.6% | neutral |
| -3 | Cumulative abnormal return | -4.1% | neutral |
| -2 | Cumulative abnormal return | -4.6% | neutral |
| -1 | Cumulative abnormal return | -6.1% | neutral |
| 0 | Cumulative abnormal return | -1.6% | neutral |
| 1 | Cumulative abnormal return | -1.7% | neutral |
| 2 | Cumulative abnormal return | -1.1% | neutral |
| 3 | Cumulative abnormal return | 0.1% | neutral |
| 4 | Cumulative abnormal return | -0.2% | neutral |
| 5 | Cumulative abnormal return | 0.6% | neutral |
Now the market side. On the filing day, the part of Kimberly-Clark's move that the peer basket A small group of lookalike companies used as a yardstick. A stock that rises exactly as much as the basket has done nothing special. did not share was 4.5%. In plain terms that is the abnormal return The part of a stock's move that similar companies did not share on the same days. It is a way to strip out the mood of the whole sector.: the slice of a move a peer group did not share. The peer basket here is 3 stocks: Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Church & Dwight. Over the ten trading days before, that same measure added up to -6.1%. From the filing day onward it was 6.7%. The window after the filing covers 6 trading days including the day itself. Treat this as two things happening in the same window, not as one causing the other.
Glossary
- abnormal return
- The part of a stock's move that similar companies did not share on the same days. It is a way to strip out the mood of the whole sector.
- peer basket
- A small group of lookalike companies used as a yardstick. A stock that rises exactly as much as the basket has done nothing special.
Sales are crawling, and the cost line did the damage
The published accounts do not yet cover the September quarter, so the figures here run through 2026Q2, the last period available. Growth against the same quarter a year earlier was 0.6%, down from 2.7% in 2026Q1. The sales bars themselves have barely moved over the past year. Stretch the window and the three-year rate to 2026Q2 is -6.6% a year.
Data table
| period | revenue | yoy |
|---|---|---|
| 2023Q3 | $5.1bn | 1.6% |
| 2023Q4 | $1.7bn | -3.2% |
| 2024Q1 | $4.3bn | -16.7% |
| 2024Q2 | $4.2bn | -17.6% |
| 2024Q3 | $4.1bn | -19.3% |
| 2024Q4 | $4.1bn | 143.6% |
| 2025Q1 | $4.1bn | -6.3% |
| 2025Q2 | $4.2bn | -1.6% |
| 2025Q3 | $4.2bn | 0.1% |
| 2025Q4 | $4.1bn | -0.6% |
| 2026Q1 | $4.2bn | 2.7% |
| 2026Q2 | $4.2bn | 0.6% |
The cost side is the interesting bit. Gross margin was 38.3% in 2026Q2, 1.4 pp better than the quarter before. Operating margin still fell -3.0 pp between those two quarters, while running costs took 4.4 pp more of each sales dollar. My reading: the squeeze sits in the costs below the gross line, not in what shoppers pay at the shelf. But look a year back and the picture flips: gross margin What is left of each sales dollar after the cost of making the product. Higher means the product itself earns more. is 3.3 pp wider and operating margin What is left after both making the product and running the business, such as marketing, logistics and offices. 0.9 pp wider than in the same quarter of 2025. So the cost story is a one-quarter step down, not a year-long slide.
Glossary
- gross margin
- What is left of each sales dollar after the cost of making the product. Higher means the product itself earns more.
- operating margin
- What is left after both making the product and running the business, such as marketing, logistics and offices.
The cheapest price tag in the group, and the thinnest growth
Kimberly-Clark's trailing P/E The share price divided by the profit per share of the last four quarters. A lower number means you pay less for each dollar of past profit. is 18.7x. The median for the 3 peers with a P/E is 33.6x. Against that median the gap is -44.3%.
Glossary
- trailing P/E
- The share price divided by the profit per share of the last four quarters. A lower number means you pay less for each dollar of past profit.
- total return
- The change in a share's value over a stretch of time, with dividends counted as reinvested into the stock.
Where do you think Kimberly-Clark's trailing P/E sits today?
Actual18.7x
It is 18.7x. The surprise is the distance from the 33.6x peer median, for a company that had just told the market nothing in its plan had changed.
Show answer
18.7x It is 18.7x. The surprise is the distance from the 33.6x peer median, for a company that had just told the market nothing in its plan had changed.
A year of share price tells a matching story. Total return over the year to 2026-10-23 was -2.5%. The market returned 14.4% over the same year. My reading: the low multiple travels with the thinnest growth among these names, so the discount is less of a bargain hunt than it looks.
Risks
- These are preliminary figures and exclude items not yet identified; final numbers arrive 5 November 2026.
- The peer basket holds only a handful of large consumer names, a thin yardstick for the event study.
- Currency moves and reporting changes make year-on-year comparisons across these quarters hard to read.
Sources
- FinMind USStockPrice CHD — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-25 16:31 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice CL — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-25 16:31 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice KMB — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-25 16:31 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- FinMind USStockPrice PG — data as of 2026-10-23; fetched 2026-10-25 16:31 UTC; License note: FinMind open data; original source TWSE/TPEx or US exchanges
- SEC EDGAR XBRL companyfacts, KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION — data as of 2026-06-30; fetched 2026-10-25 16:31 UTC