Kimberly Clark Beats Estimates on Strong International Sales

Shares of health and hygiene product manufacturer Kimberly Clark were up 2% Monday after the company said its Q3 net income jumped 24.4% on a 9.7% revenue gain, driven by strong international sales and corporate cost reductions. Earnings for the quarter were $453.1 million on sales of $4.62 billion, up from $364.2 million on sales of $4.21 billion a year ago. Excluding one-time charges, Kimberly earned $1.07/share, just ahead of the $1.06/share on revenue of $4.52 billion consensus analyst estimate. For the coming quarter, the firm gave EPS guidance of $1.09-1.11. On the year, it now forecasts EPS of $4.23 to $4.25, up from a previous forecast of $4.20 to $4.25. Analysts had been looking for Q4 EPS of $1.12 and full-year EPS of $4.25. "We're focused on driving our targeted growth initiatives and continually improving our capabilities and cost effectiveness," CEO Thomas Falk said in a statement (full earnings call transcript later today). Personal care sales were up 12%, tissue products gained 10.5%, while sales of healthcare products fell 5.2% after the company exited the latex glove business in late 2006. "They've done a good job at managing their margins," Bernstein analyst Ali Dibadj said Monday in a Bloomberg interview. Shares are down 1.2% YTD and 0.4% over the past year.

Sources: Press release, MarketWatch, Bloomberg
Commentary: Kimberly-Clark: Challenging Another Rate Cut • Kimberly-Clark Corporation is Still Over-Valued
Stocks to watch: KMB. Competitors: JNJ, PG. ETFs: UGE, IYK
Earnings call transcript: Kimberly-Clark Q2 2007

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.