Latest news with #KirkPerry
CNA
22 minutes ago
- Business
- CNA
Tylenol maker Kenvue ousts CEO amid board's strategic review
Band-Aid and Tylenol maker Kenvue has fired its CEO Thibaut Mongon, the consumer health company said on Monday (Jul 14), laying what some investors expect will be the groundwork for an eventual sale of the entire company or pieces of it. Kenvue also said that an ongoing review of strategic alternatives is advancing. The company has been seen as an acquisition target this year as it faced mounting investor pressure to boost performance or consider a sale. Kenvue named director Kirk Perry as interim CEO, while Mongon also stepped down from the board. Perry, who worked at Procter & Gamble for 23 years, most recently served as CEO of technology and data analytics firm Circana. "The appointment of Perry increases the chance of a sale of a part or all of the portfolio," said Canaccord Genuity analyst Susan Anderson. The company's share price slowly climbed around 2.25 per cent on Monday after it struggled in early trading as some investors said they used the news as a reason to liquidate positions. Others were encouraged by the strategic review news, something many of them had long pushed for. Activist investors Third Point and Toms Capital were big buyers of the stock earlier in the year, according to regulatory filings, with Toms specifically pushing for a sale. Kenvue settled a proxy fight with activist investor Starboard Value in March, appointing its CEO Jeffrey Smith to the board. Kenvue, which was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, has been working to shore up profitability, especially in its struggling skin health and beauty unit, which includes brands like Neutrogena and Aveeno. "This change in leadership does not come as a surprise to us (and most likely many investors) given the company's fundamental performance," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi, adding that a brand divestiture now appears more likely. The company said it had created a strategic review committee, advised by investment bank Centerview Partners and consulting firm McKinsey, to weigh portfolio simplification and potential divestitures. The company was already exploring the sale of some of its non-core skin health and beauty brands, Reuters reported in June. Mongon's ouster follows the departure of CFO Paul Ruh in May, who was replaced by Amit Banati from Kellanova.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tylenol parent Kenvue has a new CEO, and he has lots of work to do to mollify activist investors
Two years ago, when Johnson & Johnson announced it was spinning off its consumer brands including Tylenol, Band-Aid, Motrin, Sudafed, and Neutrogena into a new company called Kenvue, investor anticipation was high. The thinking was simple: The company was packed with household names that had room to grow, untethered from all the problems of the J&J mothership. Kenvue shares rose 22% in their trading debut in May 2023. But the honeymoon was short-lived. Barely 15 months after the spinoff, activist investors tired of anemic growth, started to demand change. Since last autumn, Starboard, Third Point Capital and Toms Capital Investment Management have all pressured the company to find ways to accelerate growth and increase profit margins. All that culminated on Monday with the abrupt resignation of Kenvue CEO Thibaut Mongon, his replacement by board director Kirk Perry on an interim basis, and the confirmation that Kenvue is undertaking a strategic review in the hopes of 'optimizing' a sprawling portfolio and boosting profitability. 'Kenvue has world-class brands in attractive categories and a strong global platform. The actions announced today are to ensure we have the right talent, brand portfolio and operational foundation to fully capitalize on those strengths, accelerate profitable growth and best position the Company for future success,' said Larry Merlo, Kenvue's chair and the former CEO of CVS Health. The leadership shakeup comes on the heels of a rough earnings call. Kenvue announced on Monday that in its most recent quarter, it expects net sales to fall 4%, continuing a downward trend. As a result of that weak performance, shares fell from their all time high of about $27 in 2023 to around $21.25 today. In contrast, the S&P 500 has risen more than 40% in the last two years. Kenvue's challenges stem from the same factors that created so much optimism at its debut. J&J spun off its consumer business to focus on its highly profitable pharmaceutical businesses, much as Merck, Sanofi, Pfizer and GSK had in previous years. The goal was to streamline J&J, not make Kenvue's portfolio composition ideal from the start. The practice is not unusual in corporate America; spinoffs are often repositories for brands the parent company did not want. But Kenvue struggled to balance and diversify its own brand portfolio, and figure out a formula that would work outside of the J&J umbrella. In retrospect, a boosterish comment from Mongon on the day of the spinoff, who had been leading J&J's consumer business since 2019, seems like a warning sign. 'We are the only company of our size covering all of consumer health,' Mongon said in 2023. Fortune was unable to reach Mongon for comment. Ultimately, the activists pressuring Kenvue to sell off some brands, or even consider selling itself entirely (its market capitalization is $40 billion) have prevailed. Last month, Reuters reported that Kenvue was focusing on its marquee brands like Neutrogena, and considering selling many others including Clean & Clear, Maui Moisture, Neostrata, its German baby care brand Bebe, and Japanese brand With Perry at the helm now, Kenvue has a leader who is a veteran of Procter & Gamble, and intimately familiar with periodic portfolio resets that activists have clamored for. But Kenvue's shares barely budged after the CEO and strategic overview news. That suggests investors are not expecting Perry—or whoever becomes permanent CEO—to turn things around quickly. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tylenol Maker Kenvue's CEO Departs Amid Strategic Review
Kenvue CEO Thibaut Mongon has stepped down as the company's chief executive and departed its board of directors. The move comes after Kenvue appointed a new chief financial officer in May. The Tylenol owner is also considering streamlining its brand portfolio, its chairman CEO of Tylenol maker Kenvue (KVUE) has left the company as part of an internal review of the company's operations. The company, which also owns brands including Band-Aid, Johnson's, Aveeno, Neutrogena, and Listerine, said Thibaut Mongon has stepped down as the company's chief executive and departed its board of directors. He has been succeeded in an interim capacity by Director Kirk Perry. Shares of Kenvue were down about 1% in recent trading Monday after jumping in premarket trading. The stock is roughly flat for 2025. As part of the ongoing strategic review, Kenvue previously replaced its chief financial officer in May. The company, spun off from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) in 2023, is also considering streamlining its brand portfolio, Chairman Larry Merlo said. Meanwhile, Kenvue issued preliminary financial results for the second quarter ended June 29. The company expects to report adjusted earnings per share of 28 cents to 29 cents, which matches the consensus expectation of analysts tracked by Visible Alpha. Read the original article on Investopedia Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tylenol-Maker Kenvue Launches Turnaround Plans. How Should You Play KVUE Stock Here?
Kenvue shares (KVUE) are in focus Monday after the consumer health firm ousted its CEO, Thibaut Mongon, and announced a strategic review aimed at optimizing the portfolio. Kirk Perry will be the interim chief executive as the company searches for a permanent replacement, it confirmed in a press release on July 14. Palantir Just Launched Warp Speed for Warships. Does That Make PLTR Stock a Buy? This Analyst Just Doubled His Price Target on AMD Stock How High Can Nvidia Stock Go as Jensen Huang Heads to China? Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! At the time of writing, Kenvue stock is down more than 13% versus its year-to-date high in May. Kenvue's leadership shake-up and strategic review could prove meaningfully positive for its stock price as they signal a proactive reset aimed at unlocking shareholder value. The company based out of Summit, New Jersey appointed Kirk Perry, a seasoned executive with deep experience in consumer goods and data-driven transformation, indicating utter commitment to operational discipline. Plus, the board's review could lead to brand divestitures, cost savings, and portfolio simplification, all of which may improve margins and focus over time. Simply put, the management change and strategic review announced today positions KVUE shares for stronger execution and long-term growth. Kenvue shares are currently trading only slightly above the price at which they started this year, weakness that Jefferies analysts dubbed an opportunity to buy a quality name at a deep discount in their latest research note. In June, the investment firm called KVUE a 'self-help transformation story' as it reiterated its 'Buy' rating on the consumer health firm. According to Jefferies, improving retail trends and early recovery in key brands like Neutrogena and Zyrtec could see KVUE stock hitting $27 (up more than 27% from here) over the next 12 months. A rather lucrative 3.74% dividend yield makes up for another great reason to own Kenvue in the second half of 2025. While not as bullish as Jefferies, other Wall Street firms also recommend buying KVUE shares at current levels. According to Barchart, the consensus rating on Kenvue stock currently sits at 'Moderate Buy' with the mean target of $24.50 indicating potential upside of more than 12% from here. On the date of publication, Wajeeh Khan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kenvue CEO ousted, company announces strategic review
Kenvue (KVUE), the company behind Tylenol and Neutrogena, announced that Thibaut Mongon had left the company, naming Kirk Perry as interim CEO. Yahoo Finance Senior Healthcare Reporter Anjalee Khemlani reports the details. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here. A C-suite shakeup with consumer health company Kenvue, the owner of brands such as Neutrogena and Tylenol announcing a CEO transition and actions to unlock shareholder value. For more on this, let's bring in here Yahoo Finance's very own, Anjalee Kaman. Anj. That's right, Josh. Uh we heard today that Kenvue, which is the former consumer umbrella for J&J, uh did let go of its CEO. And this transition is coming at a time where they've already had some investor, activist investor pressure. Uh we know that this company's also been uh the the activist investors have also been really active in the other biotech spaces and pharma company spaces. So interesting to focus on the consumer brand uh Kenvue spun out in 2023 from Johnson and Johnson. We've had several conversations with the now former CEO, Thibaut Mongon. As you can see on your screen, these are some of the notable brands under that umbrella that he took out from J&J. And remember the time that, you know, when we talked to him, he was talking about how this Kenvue now became sort of the biggest pure-play consumer health brand, 40 billion uh market cap, a really big company with household names. And the fact that the company now has to really focus on a lot of its skin care and and uh health and beauty brands and the sort of moves that have been called for really takes this company in another direction. I want to hearken back to what Thibaut had told us, if you want to take a listen to what he told us uh a couple of years ago. What we see in our portfolio is that consumers more than ever are focused on their health and well-being. They are looking for products that are efficacious, that are that they can trust, that are recommended by their healthcare professionals, that has been in their medicine cabinet for many years, many decades, sometimes a few generations, and that's what we offer at Kenvue with our portfolio of iconic brands. And yet those iconic brands being forced to change again by this activity. They now have named interim CEO Kirk Perry who has led Procter and Gamble in the past. So obviously looking at some of the brands themselves and looking at resetting what that portfolio looks like. Kenvue has and and in the past when it was part of J&J had always been kind of facing some of the same retail pressure that we often see with seasonality uh and you know, the change of trends and the like. So that has been something that the company has had to keep a focus on and you can see in sort of the stock action that there hasn't been too much activity as a result of the fact that, you know, the the uh Wall Street is basically thinking that this is going to be a long-term plan to play out rather than something that has more short-term impact. And Anj, you mentioned those activists, so Starboard Value, reportedly Third Point built a stake in this one. How much of this uh CEO shake up, Anj, do we think was about trying to make those investors happy? It does seem like it has a significant uh contribution to that. So we know that some of the board members have pretty much voiced something to that effect that there is a need for a shake up in the brand and kind of helping it move forward. In general, consumer brands have been once spun off from pharma companies have sort of faded into the background, and it seems like because of the iconic brands that are associated with this company, uh there's been a push to kind of maintain that kind of relevance. And and this is sort of where, you know, they're looking to unlock more value after the IPO as a standalone in a way that we haven't really seen with some of the other brands that were spun off from Pfizer and others years ago. All right. Thank you, Anj. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
