Kenvue Stock: Price Rollercoaster and Reddit's Take – Tylenol

Generated Title: Kimberly-Clark's Kenvue Grab: Desperate or Genius? My Gut Says...

Another One Bites the Dust?

Kimberly-Clark buying Kenvue for almost $50 billion? Seriously? My first thought: someone's feeling the heat and needs a distraction, and a big one at that. Kenvue shareholders get $3.50 a share in cash plus some Kimberly stock... shares that promptly tanked 12% on the news. Thanks, Kimberly-Clark!

The official line is this is about "scale" and "synergies." Right. Like we haven't heard that song and dance before. Kimberly-Clark's been shedding assets left and right – Brazilian tissue, PPE, private label stuff – and now they're scooping up Kenvue, which itself only got spun off from Johnson & Johnson like yesterday. Makes you wonder what kinda fires they're trying to put out.

And "synergies?" They're aiming for almost $2 billion in cost savings. 30% from sales and marketing, 30% from cost of goods, 40% from general admin. That's 15% of Kenvue's costs. Anyone who actually believes they can pull that off without gutting the place and killing innovation is smoking something. Gimme a break.

The Talc Cloud Hanging Over Everything

Here's the part nobody wants to talk about too loudly: Kenvue's still got that talc litigation hanging over its head. And the Tylenol stuff too! You know, the stuff that made J&J want to cut them loose in the first place? Kimberly-Clark can say they did their due diligence, but that's just lawyer talk for "we hope this doesn't blow up in our face." It's like buying a used car with a rebuilt title and hoping the engine doesn't fall out on the highway.

Morningstar lowered Kimberly-Clark's fair value estimate to $133 and jacked up the uncertainty rating to "High." You think maybe they see something the K-C executives don't? Or maybe they're just being realistic. Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here.

I mean, the stock is undervalued, according to them. Maybe this is some kind of twisted genius play, buying up a distressed asset with potential. But potential ain't worth squat if you can't execute.

Speaking of execution, this reminds me of that time I tried to assemble an Ikea bookshelf after a bottle of wine. The instructions made about as much sense as Kimberly-Clark's "synergy" projections. Let's just say there were extra screws left over, and the whole thing wobbled precariously. And I had to throw the Allen wrench away after I bent it trying to get a screw in.

So, What's the Play?

They're betting big on streamlining Kenvue, ditching underperforming products, and squeezing more out of their distribution network. Sounds good on paper, but Kenvue's been struggling to compete in the consumer packaged goods space since the split. What makes Kimberly-Clark think they can do any better? Is it hubris? Probably.

And offcourse, the deal won't close until the second half of 2026. That's a long time for something to go wrong. A recession, a new lawsuit, a rogue AI taking over the world and demanding all the Kleenex... you never know.

What's the real end game here? Are they trying to build a consumer products empire, or are they just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

A Disaster Waiting to Happen

Kimberly-Clark buying Kenvue? It ain't a masterstroke; it's a high-stakes gamble with more downside than up. Mark my words: this deal will be studied in business schools as a case study in overconfidence and wishful thinking.