Kimberly-Clark Details “Powering Care” Plan, Kenvue Integration Ahead of 2026 Close

Key Points

• Powering Care is driving volume-led organic growth and margin expansion through innovation, with two consecutive years of volume-plus-mix growth, innovation accounting for over 75% of that growth and launched products averaging about 285 basis points of margin accretion.
• The acquisition of Kenvue is on track to close in the second half of 2026 after shareholder approval and U.S. regulatory clearance, with a Global Integration Management Office and 30+ workstreams targeting about $2.1 billion of total net synergies.
• Operations and productivity gains—including two years of ~6% productivity, being halfway to a $3 billion productivity goal, a new "Mega Plant," and planned ~ $1.3 billion capex in 2026—are funding reinvestment such as roughly $150 million more per year in advertising and promotional spend.

Kimberly-Clark NASDAQ: KMB leadership outlined its “Powering Care” strategy and the company’s preparations for its pending acquisition of Kenvue during a company presentation led by Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu, alongside President and COO Russ Torres, Chief R&D Officer Craig Slavtcheff, Chief Growth Officer Patricia Corsi, and Chief Financial Officer Nelson Urdaneta.

Executives framed the company’s transformation as a bid to strengthen Kimberly-Clark’s position as a global branded personal care leader, highlighting what they described as volume-led organic growth, productivity-driven margin expansion, and a repeatable operating model they expect to apply to Kenvue once the transaction closes. Management said the deal remains on track to close in the second half of 2026, following shareholder approval and U.S. regulatory clearance.

Powering Care strategy and performance focus

Hsu described Kimberly-Clark as a company “of inventors,” emphasizing consumer trust and lifelong relationships built through brands such as Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, Poise, Depend, Kleenex, and Cottonelle. He said the company’s portfolio is pivoting toward personal care categories with attractive long-term growth potential and noted that Kimberly-Clark’s products serve “one in four people every day.”

Management said Powering Care is producing “industry-leading momentum,” citing two consecutive years of volume plus mix growth and an acceleration in 2025. Hsu said the company has delivered this performance in categories growing on average about 2% and said the company sees opportunity to accelerate growth in Kenvue categories, which he said are “currently growing faster than 2%.” He also said the company is on a sustainable path toward previously established margin milestones, with productivity gains funding investment in brand propositions and commercial capabilities.

R&D: consumer-driven science, faster scaling, and premiumization

Slavtcheff detailed changes to Kimberly-Clark’s innovation system, centered on consumer “need states,” a “matrix wiring” approach that links short-, medium-, and long-term innovation, and broader adoption of agile design methods intended to shorten development cycles “to months from years.” He said the company has focused scientific discovery into five areas and highlighted work on next-generation absorbent systems as well as microbiome and skin physiology research.

As an example of global scaling, Slavtcheff said the company reduced baby and child care projects from 300 to 11 scalable benefit platforms within 12 months, then moved 70% of geographies to “winning product designs” by the end of 2025. He said Kimberly-Clark’s three-year pipeline has generated more than $500 million in incremental net sales from scaling launches alone. Looking ahead, he said the FY 2026–FY 2028 pipeline is 160% the size of the 2020 pipeline, and he characterized the innovation portfolio as margin accretive, citing that more than 75% of volume plus mix-led growth came from innovation and that launched innovations averaged 285 basis points of margin accretion.

Slavtcheff also highlighted specific product examples, including Huggies’ “Cloud Waistband” feature and Kotex innovations such as Gravity and Bio-care. In China, he pointed to the “Deep Sleep Master” diaper launch as part of a longer-term “Sleep Uninterrupted” effort, saying consumer tests showed improved sleep outcomes and that the launch led to 210 basis points of share gain in China’s top-tier diaper market.

Marketing and digital: brand love, activation, and e-commerce capabilities

Corsi described the company’s commercial approach through three areas: a “Holistic blueprint for growth,” brand-building efforts aimed at increasing loyalty and advocacy, and a digital transformation agenda spanning AI, data, social commerce, and e-commerce execution.

She shared examples of end-to-end launches combining product changes with packaging, visual identity, and campaigns. In North America, Corsi cited Huggies “Quilted Protection” as an example and said it delivered nearly 300 basis points of market share gains and reached more than 1 billion media impressions. She also highlighted changes to the Sweety brand in Indonesia, citing 34% growth in the segment and strong consumer ratings across platforms including TikTok, Shopee, and Lazada.

In adult care, Corsi said the company is working to reduce stigma through packaging and communications, noting bladder leakage prevalence figures and pointing to market share gains in examples from Australia and the U.S. She also discussed a U.S. relaunch of Kotex featuring Gravity technology and Bio-care, describing it as a global platform intended to expand to multiple countries.

On digital, Corsi said Kimberly-Clark has built a “social-first model” in China that includes creator partnerships and product co-creation. She said the approach delivered 190 basis points of market share gains and a 60% lower cost per view. In the U.S., she cited a 700-basis-point share advantage online versus offline and said the company was selected as a beta partner for a retailer’s Gen AI capability, reducing certain work cycles from two weeks to two days and contributing to more than 200 basis points of share growth in e-commerce.

Operations, productivity, and Kenvue integration plans

Torres said Kimberly-Clark delivered 2.6% volume plus mix-led growth in 2025 and cited eight consecutive quarters of solid performance. He said the company posted share gains in two-thirds of its “key category country cells.” On productivity, Torres said Kimberly-Clark has delivered two consecutive years of 6% productivity and is “50% of the way” toward a $3 billion productivity commitment, “well ahead of schedule.”

He outlined three operational pillars aimed at achieving “best product and the lowest cost”:

• Value Stream Simplification
• Optimizing the Global Network
• Scalable Automation

Torres highlighted a new “Mega Plant” in Warren, Ohio, which he said will improve throughput, product performance, and unit costs, including cutting “miles on the road” by 22%, reducing distribution centers, and increasing direct-to-customer shipments. He also discussed Vietnam as a case study where the company launched a value-focused diaper under the Sweety brand in five months, stating Kimberly-Clark achieved a 25% conversion cost advantage versus Chinese OEM competitors and introduced a $0.07 diaper preferred by two-thirds of consumers, helping Vietnam gain 50 basis points of share in the fourth quarter.

Torres said productivity savings are supporting reinvestment, including $150 million more per year in advertising and promotion than two years ago and capital investment expected to reach approximately $1.3 billion in 2026. He also described the company’s operating model as market-oriented, designed to bring “global might to local fight,” and pointed to cross-pollination between North America and China as an example of the approach.

On Kenvue, Torres said a Global Integration Management Office is in place with talent split about 50/50 between the companies and more than 30 workstreams operating. He said the acquisition was approved by shareholders of both companies, with “well over 96%” of Kimberly-Clark shareholders voting in favor, and reiterated that the company has U.S. regulatory clearance and expects to close in the second half of 2026.

Torres said Kimberly-Clark is targeting $2.1 billion in total net synergies and outlined areas of opportunity in supply chain and SG&A, including distribution consolidation, commercial spending optimization, function scaling, and IT landscape optimization. He cited India as one example where he said Kenvue could potentially triple distribution in traditional trade, and said similar opportunities exist in several other markets.

Hsu closed by saying Powering Care has created a “virtuous cycle” driven by innovation-led volume and mix growth, productivity, and an organization “wired for local agility, global scale, and speed,” positioning the company to integrate Kenvue and expand its role in consumer health and wellness categories across life stages.

About Kimberly-Clark NASDAQ: KMB

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.

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