Nov 3 (Reuters) -

Kenvue ( KVUE ) missed Wall Street estimates for

third-quarter sales on Monday, while it also announced its

acquisition

by Kimberly-Clark ( KMB ) for about $48.7 billion.

The consumer health company's shares rose about 20% in

premarket trading following the deal.

Kenvue ( KVUE ) has endured several challenges since its spinoff

from Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) in 2023, and was especially

scrutinized following President Donald Trump's comments linking

its popular pain medicine Tylenol to

autism

.

Last week, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr acknowledged

there is no evidence

proving Tylenol causes autism, but repeated his view that

signs of a link between the two were "very suggestive."

U.S. sales of Tylenol had declined 11% between September

20 and October 4, after the Trump administration called out the

drug's potential link to autism, BNP Paribas analyst Navann Ty

had said in a note last month.

Its largest segment of self-care, which houses brands

such as Benadryl and Tylenol, saw a 3.8% decline in sales to

$1.56 billion.

Weakness in Kenvue's ( KVUE ) core businesses, especially skin

health and beauty, had intensified

investor pressure

and led to the ouster of

Thibaut Mongon

as CEO in July.

Sales at the skin health segment, which includes brands like

Neutrogena and Aveeno, fell 3.2% to $1.04 billion.

Kenvue ( KVUE ) on Monday named Kirk Perry as its permanent CEO,

along with two other executives who previously served at Procter

& Gamble ( PG ) and Mondelēz International.

The company's third-quarter net sales decreased 3.5% to

$3.76 billion, missing estimates of $3.84 billion, according to

data compiled by LSEG.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of 28

cents per share, compared with estimates of 27 cents apiece.

The Band-Aid maker also reiterated its 2025 adjusted profit

outlook of between $1.00 and $1.05 per share, and expects 2025

net sales to be down by low-single-digits.