Kimberly-Clark Corporation Just Missed Earnings - But Analysts Have Updated Their Models

As you might know, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) last week released its latest quarterly, and things did not turn out so great for shareholders. Kimberly-Clark missed analyst forecasts, with revenues of US$4.2b and statutory earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.53, falling short by 6.8% and 8.7% respectively. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. With this in mind, we've gathered the latest statutory forecasts to see what the analysts are expecting for next year.

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After the latest results, the consensus from Kimberly-Clark's 15 analysts is for revenues of US$18.0b in 2025, which would reflect a not inconsiderable 8.7% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. Statutory earnings per share are expected to decline 13% to US$6.39 in the same period. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$18.9b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.30 in 2025. The consensus seems maybe a little more pessimistic, trimming their revenue forecasts after the latest results even though there was no change to its EPS estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for Kimberly-Clark

The consensus has reconfirmed its price target of US$141, showing that the analysts don't expect weaker revenue expectations next year to have a material impact on Kimberly-Clark's market value. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on Kimberly-Clark, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$162 and the most bearish at US$118 per share. This shows there is still a bit of diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Kimberly-Clark's past performance and to peers in the same industry. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 17% annualised decline to the end of 2025. That is a notable change from historical growth of 0.7% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 3.1% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Kimberly-Clark is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. On the negative side, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. Even so, long term profitability is more important for the value creation process. The consensus price target held steady at US$141, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Kimberly-Clark going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Before you take the next step you should know about the 1 warning sign for Kimberly-Clark that we have uncovered.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.