Consumer goods giant Kimberly-Clark reported Q1 earnings today that reveal several macro themes worth watching and the dynamic of a weakening USD and how that will hurt equities.
The maker of Kleenex and Huggies posted a 6% drop in net sales to $4.8 billion, with currency translation accounting for a significant 2.4% of that decline. More concerning for macro watchers is the company’s revised outlook, citing “greater costs across our global supply chain” than anticipated at the beginning of 2025.
They’ve significantly reduced their outlook from “high single-digit growth” to “flat to positive” for operating profit on a constant-currency basis, indicating a notable slowdown in business expectations.
Share of KMB are down 3.5%.
If the US dollar continues to fall, we could see a reversal in some of this commentary as a weak dollar boosts foreign profits in USD terms.
The good news is company reported a 1.5% decrease in price, with volume and mix flat year-over-year. That’s some good news on inflation but suggests challenges in maintaining pricing power in a slowing consumer environment.
This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.
