We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is KMB's Powering Care Strategy Building a Competitive Edge Into 2026?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Key Takeaways
KMB extended its volume-plus-mix growth streak into a seventh straight quarter.
Kimberly-Clark is using tiered innovation to drive premiumization and protect value brands.
KMB reaffirmed long-term margin targets, backed by productivity and operating changes.
Kimberly-Clark Corporation's (KMB - Free Report) Powering Care strategy is steadily reshaping the company’s competitive position, reinforcing its ambition to become an industry-leading personal care powerhouse. Despite ongoing pressures across the consumer staples landscape, management highlighted that Powering Care remains the central driver of execution, enabling KMB to deliver more consistent results while strengthening its brands and market presence.
KMB continues its shift toward volume-plus-mix-led growth, achieving its seventh consecutive quarter of gains in third-quarter fiscal 2025. Management noted that this trend, which began last year, is expected to continue into the fourth quarter. By targeting consumers across the good, better and best spectrum, KMB aims to grow volumes while maintaining pricing discipline despite rising promotional intensity.
Innovation remains central to the strategy’s durability. Management expressed confidence that upcoming innovation cycles will be progressively stronger, with future product launches expected to outperform prior generations. The company is intentionally cascading performance-led innovation across price tiers, supporting premiumization while protecting its value offerings, a dynamic that should sustain positive mix over multiple years.
Powering Care also carries longer-term profitability implications. KMB reaffirmed its ambition to achieve a gross margin of at least 40% and an operating margin of 18-20% before the end of the decade. Continued productivity gains, reinvestment behind brands and a rewired organizational model are expected to support more consistent margin expansion and improved earnings quality over time.
Overall, as KMB enters 2026, Powering Care appears positioned as a durable competitive framework. With visibility into sustained growth momentum, an increasingly robust innovation pipeline and structurally improving margins, the strategy strengthens KMB’s ability to deliver resilient performance and long-term value creation in the years ahead.
KMB, which competes with Procter & Gamble (PG - Free Report) and Albertsons Companies (ACI - Free Report) , has seen its shares decline 22.6% in the past six months compared with the industry’s fall of 12.7%. Also, shares of Procter & Gamble and Albertsons Companies have lost 10.3% and 21.3%, respectively, in the aforementioned period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Kimberly-Clark’s forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61 reflects a lower valuation than the industry’s average of 18.06. KMB has a Value Score of D. KMB is trading at a discount to Procter & Gamble (with a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 20.09) and at a premium to Albertsons Companies (7.84).
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KMB’s 2025 earnings implies a year-over-year decline of 16.4%, while the same for 2026 indicates growth of 13.2%. Earnings estimates for 2025 have been southbound by 7 cents per share, while the same for 2026 have been southbound by 1 cent in the past 30 days.
Image: Bigstock
Is KMB's Powering Care Strategy Building a Competitive Edge Into 2026?
Key Takeaways
Kimberly-Clark Corporation's (KMB - Free Report) Powering Care strategy is steadily reshaping the company’s competitive position, reinforcing its ambition to become an industry-leading personal care powerhouse. Despite ongoing pressures across the consumer staples landscape, management highlighted that Powering Care remains the central driver of execution, enabling KMB to deliver more consistent results while strengthening its brands and market presence.
KMB continues its shift toward volume-plus-mix-led growth, achieving its seventh consecutive quarter of gains in third-quarter fiscal 2025. Management noted that this trend, which began last year, is expected to continue into the fourth quarter. By targeting consumers across the good, better and best spectrum, KMB aims to grow volumes while maintaining pricing discipline despite rising promotional intensity.
Innovation remains central to the strategy’s durability. Management expressed confidence that upcoming innovation cycles will be progressively stronger, with future product launches expected to outperform prior generations. The company is intentionally cascading performance-led innovation across price tiers, supporting premiumization while protecting its value offerings, a dynamic that should sustain positive mix over multiple years.
Powering Care also carries longer-term profitability implications. KMB reaffirmed its ambition to achieve a gross margin of at least 40% and an operating margin of 18-20% before the end of the decade. Continued productivity gains, reinvestment behind brands and a rewired organizational model are expected to support more consistent margin expansion and improved earnings quality over time.
Overall, as KMB enters 2026, Powering Care appears positioned as a durable competitive framework. With visibility into sustained growth momentum, an increasingly robust innovation pipeline and structurally improving margins, the strategy strengthens KMB’s ability to deliver resilient performance and long-term value creation in the years ahead.
Kimberly-Clark’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
KMB, which competes with Procter & Gamble (PG - Free Report) and Albertsons Companies (ACI - Free Report) , has seen its shares decline 22.6% in the past six months compared with the industry’s fall of 12.7%. Also, shares of Procter & Gamble and Albertsons Companies have lost 10.3% and 21.3%, respectively, in the aforementioned period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Kimberly-Clark’s forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61 reflects a lower valuation than the industry’s average of 18.06. KMB has a Value Score of D. KMB is trading at a discount to Procter & Gamble (with a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 20.09) and at a premium to Albertsons Companies (7.84).
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KMB’s 2025 earnings implies a year-over-year decline of 16.4%, while the same for 2026 indicates growth of 13.2%. Earnings estimates for 2025 have been southbound by 7 cents per share, while the same for 2026 have been southbound by 1 cent in the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Kimberly-Clark currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.