Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience and holding. We now have your presenters in conference. Please be aware that each of your lines is in a listen-only mode. At the conclusion of this morning's short remarks, we will open the floor for questions. At that time, instructions will be given as to the procedure to follow if you would like to ask a question. It is now my pleasure to introduce today's first presenter, Mr. Paul Alexander. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Kimberly Clark's first quarter earnings conference call. I'm joined today with Mike Hsu, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Maria Henry, our CFO. Earlier this morning, we issued our earnings news release, and we also published prepared management remarks from Mike and Maria that summarized our first quarter results and full year outlook. Both documents are available in the Investors section of our website. In just a moment, Mike will share a few opening comments, and then we'll take your questions. During this call, we may make 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. We may also refer to adjusted results and outlook. Both exclude certain items described in this morning's news release. That release has further information about these adjustments and reconciliations to comparable GAAP financial measures. Now I'll turn it over to Mike.

Okay, thank you, Paul. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to start the call today with a few brief remarks. Our first quarter results and outlook have been impacted by supply chain disruption, faster-than-expected consumer tissue destocking, and a sharp rise in input costs. While I'm not pleased with the results and our outlook, we're taking decisive actions to manage through the short-term challenges we face. We're continuing to invest in our brands and commercial capability to ensure we're able to grow both in the near term and in the long term. We gained market share in 2020, and our shares were off to a good start this year with strong gains in many key markets. At the same time, we're moving rapidly, especially with selling price increases, to offset commodity headwinds. We've done this successfully in past commodity cycles, and we expect to do this again now. I remain confident in the underlying health of our brands and in our growth strategies. We're operating in a very dynamic environment, and we know how to manage through this. I'm confident our team will execute with excellence and will continue to build a stronger company for long-term success and value creation. Now, with that, we'd be happy to take your questions.