Kimberly Clark : KMB 1Q 2021 Prepared Management Remarks

First Quarter 2021

Prepared Remarks

April 23, 2021

Company Participants

Mike Hsu, Chairman and CEO

Maria Henry, CFO

Paul Alexander, VP Investor Relations

Please view these remarks in conjunction with our Q1 2021 earnings release, including the GAAP/non-GAAP reconciliations, that can be found on our website at www.kimberly-clark.comunder the Investors section, or via the following link: www.kimberly-clark.com/investors

1

Paul Alexander

Thank you for your interest in Kimberly-Clark. Included below are prepared remarks from Mike Hsu - our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Maria Henry - our Chief Financial Officer.

As a reminder, these remarks include forward-looking statements. Please see the Risk Factors section of our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion of forward-looking statements. The remarks refer to adjusted results and outlook - both exclude certain items described in our Q1 2021 earnings news release. The release has further information about these adjustments and reconciliations to comparable GAAP financial measures.

In addition to these remarks, we will host a live Q&A webcast today at 9:00 a.m. Central Time. To join the webcast or listen to a replay, please visit www.kimberly- clark.com/investors.

Maria Henry

My remarks focus on our first quarter 2021 financial results.

Q1 2021 RESULTS - OVERVIEW

Our first quarter results reflect a volatile and challenging environment.

First quarter comparisons were impacted by COVID-19 related stock up in the year- ago period, consumer tissue category softness and commodity inflation. We also experienced supply chain disruptions related to severe weather in the southern part of the United States. Setting aside the impacts from the supply chain disruptions, bottom-line earnings were broadly in-line with our expectations.

Importantly, our market share positions remain healthy overall and we continue to achieve strong cost savings and return cash to shareholders.

2

Q1 2021 RESULTS - DETAILS

First quarter net sales were $4.7 billion, down 5 percent. Organic sales decreased 8 percent compared to an 11 percent increase in the year-ago period. The acquisition of Softex Indonesia increased sales 2 percent and changes in foreign currency rates increased sales slightly.

Organic growth in 2020 included significant shipments to support consumer stock up related to the outbreak of COVID-19. That stock up impacted all business segments, in particular consumer tissue, and all major geographies.

In addition, sales volumes in North American consumer products in 2021 were negatively impacted by supply chain disruptions related to the severe weather conditions that occurred in February in the southern part of the United States. The disruptions included the temporary shutdown of several of our manufacturing facilities and reduced availability of raw materials from suppliers, mostly impacting our personal care business. The disruptions negatively impacted total company organic sales in the first quarter by approximately 2 percent and adjusted earnings per share by at least $0.15.

While our facilities resumed normal operations in the latter part of February, we continue to manage through temporary raw material constraints, working closely with both our suppliers and our customers. At this point, we expect the constraints will have a relatively small impact on our second quarter sales, and then our sales should return to normal levels thereafter.

We also experienced category softness in consumer tissue in the first quarter, particularly in North America.

On the other hand, we achieved strong organic sales growth in personal care in the developing and emerging (D&E) markets.

Mike's remarks further address our first quarter sales and market share performance.

First quarter adjusted gross margin was 34.0 percent, down 320 basis points year- on-year. Adjusted gross profit decreased 13 percent.

3

Commodities were unfavorable by $135 million in the quarter. For the full-year, we're now planning for commodity inflation of $900 to $1,050 million compared to our estimate of $450 to $600 million from three months ago. The increased estimate is almost entirely due to pulp and polymer-based materials. On average, North American market prices are now forecast to be up more than 20 percent for pulp and more than 60 percent for polypropylene resin versus prior year.

We generated $105 million of cost savings from our FORCE and Restructuring programs. For the full-year, we've increased our cost savings target by $60 million compared to our original plan. Given the environment, our teams are accelerating savings programs and we expect to generate more value from our short-term raw material contracts.

Other manufacturing costs were higher in the first quarter, including costs related to COVID-19 and fixed cost under absorption.

Between-the-lines spending on an adjusted basis was 17.0 percent of net sales, even year-on-year.

Foreign currencies were a low-single digit drag on operating profit in the quarter, driven by unfavorable transaction effects.

Adjusted operating margin was 17.0 percent, down 290 basis points, and adjusted operating profit fell 19 percent.

The adjusted effective tax rate was 20.9 percent in the first quarter of 2021. That's down compared to 23.2 percent in the year-ago period because of certain tax planning initiatives.

All-in-all, first quarter adjusted earnings per share were $1.80 in 2021 compared to $2.13 in 2020.

First quarter 2021 cash provided by operations was $321 million. That compares to a very strong year-ago quarter when we generated $704 million of cash flow. The year-on-year decline reflects increased working capital, including payments for accrued expenses, and lower earnings.

4

We continue to allocate capital in shareholder-friendly ways. First quarter dividends and share repurchases totaled $535 million and we continue to expect that the full- year amount will be at least $2.15 billion.

That concludes my review of our first quarter results.

Mike Hsu

My remarks focus on first quarter 2021 organic sales, market conditions, our market shares, and our full-year 2021 outlook.

Q1 2021

First quarter organic sales were down in a volatile environment. Our market share positions remain healthy as we leverage and scale our enhanced commercial capabilities and continue to do the right things for the long-term success of our brands.

As Maria noted, sales last year included significant stock up related to COVID-19.

We experienced softer-than-expected category demand in consumer tissue in 2021. That included North American bathroom tissue, where category sales were down approximately 30 percent year-over-year and 20 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2020. This decline reflects consumer pantry de-stocking and potentially early effects of social mobility picking up in the latter part of the quarter. Despite this volatility, our market share performance in this business remains solid, as our shares were stable sequentially and down 1 point year-on-year.

In addition, facial tissue category sales were down 35 percent year-on-year in North America and more than 20 percent in Europe, reflecting a very mild cold and flu season in 2021 and stock-up last year. Nonetheless, Kleenex facial tissue market shares were up year-on-year in both markets.

The weather-related supply chain disruptions that Maria noted were also a meaningful headwind in the quarter. Prior to these disruptions, we were off to a good start to the year in North American personal care. Our underlying momentum

5