New York, Feb 6, 2026, 14:28 EST — Regular session
- KVUE was up about 0.2% and traded at $18.11 during the afternoon session
- Kenvue plans to release Q4 and full-year numbers on Feb. 17, though there won’t be a conference call this time as the Kimberly-Clark deal continues to play out.
- Shares are being valued at about $18.79, pegged to KMB’s current price. KVUE, however, trades nearly 3.6% below that level.
Kenvue Inc ticked 0.2% higher to $18.11 during Friday’s afternoon session, with roughly 36 million shares traded by mid-afternoon. The consumer health company’s upcoming sale to Kimberly-Clark kept investors’ attention.
Kenvue plans to release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 numbers after the bell on Feb. 17, but it’s dropping the usual conference call as the deal remains in limbo. For a stock that’s become a merger-arb vehicle—traders watching for the spread to the offer price to narrow—that’s no small detail. With no call, investors are left to parse just the top-line figures, searching for any clues in the data. 1
Kimberly-Clark plans to pay Kenvue investors $3.50 in cash, along with 0.14625 of a Kimberly-Clark share for every Kenvue share, according to statements from both companies. If all goes as planned, the transaction should wrap up in the back half of 2026, subject to the usual regulatory and shareholder sign-offs. With Kimberly-Clark trading at $104.53, that puts the total value of the offer at about $18.79 per Kenvue share. 2
KVUE trades roughly 68 cents below the deal’s implied value—the cash-and-stock offer calculated at today’s Kimberly-Clark price. The spread moves as opinions change on when, or if, the deal will clear approvals and legal obstacles. That’s a gap of about 3.6%.
Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue shareholders signed off on the deal’s key proposals on Jan. 29, according to statements from both firms. Regulatory approval is the last major piece standing in the way. 3
Kimberly-Clark CEO Mike Hsu said shareholders gave a “resounding” green light to the tie-up. Kenvue’s Kirk Perry said the companies are pushing ahead, expecting to wrap up the deal later this year. 4
Kenvue lagged as Wall Street pushed higher. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF advanced about 1.7%, with the consumer staples sector ETF up nearly 1%. Shares of consumer health competitor Haleon and household-goods heavyweight Procter & Gamble posted modest gains, too.
Arb spreads here can move in a hurry. A dip in Kimberly-Clark shares would chop down the value of the stock portion. Delays from regulators or fresh lawsuits? That discount could open up even more. Caution was already running high when the deal hit the wire, with Tylenol claims and the baby powder suits weighing on sentiment. 5
Day traders are left guessing whether the Feb. 17 release will actually reveal more about the merger, or simply lay out the results and move along. No earnings call this time, so investors could find themselves digging into the details, not just the top-line figures.
Kenvue’s numbers drop after the bell on Feb. 17. KVUE should stay under the implied deal value until then. Kimberly-Clark’s stock could be just as much of a swing factor as Kenvue’s own earnings. 6
