Kenvue's stock slides premarket as company reports slow start to flu and cold season

Kenvue Inc.'s stock (KVUE) fell 2.4% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company posted in-line third-quarter earnings but tightened its full-year guidance after a slow start to the flu and cold season. The company, the former consumer health operations of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), posted net income of $438 million, or 23 cents a share, for the quarter, down from $586 million, or 34 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 31 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $3.915 billion from $3.789 billion a year ago, while FactSet expected $3.906 billion. The company is now expecting the strong dollar to present a headwind to full-year sales of about 1 to 2 percentage points, up from one percentage point previously expected. "Reflecting a softer than anticipated start to the cough, cold and flu season and increased impact of foreign exchange," the company tightened its net sales outlook for fiscal 2023 to 4.0% to 4.5%. It expects adjusted EPS of $.26 to $1.28, while FactSet is expecting $1.28. The stock has fallen 20% in the last three months, while the S&P 500 has fallen 8%.

-Ciara Linnane

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10-26-23 0653ET

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