New York, February 13, 2026, 07:23 EST — Premarket
Shares of Kenvue Inc (KVUE) were up about 0.2% at $18.55 in premarket trading on Friday after the consumer health group disclosed in an 8-K filing — a report used to flag major events — that Chief Financial Officer Amit Banati will step down in May. Banati will leave on May 12 to pursue a chief executive role at another company, and Kenvue said it plans to appoint an interim principal financial officer.
The timing matters because Kenvue is deep in a deal process that ties its stock to Kimberly-Clark’s share price. Under the merger agreement, Kenvue shareholders are set to receive 0.14625 shares of Kimberly-Clark plus $3.50 in cash for each Kenvue share — a mix that implies about $19.33 at Kimberly-Clark’s premarket price of $108.26.
But the transaction still has to clear regulators, and closing is not expected until the second half of 2026. Kenvue — home to brands including Tylenol, Listerine and Neutrogena — and Kimberly-Clark said shareholders approved the deal on Jan. 29, and Kenvue CEO Kirk Perry said the companies “remain confident” in the opportunity for the combined group. (Kenvue)
Banati’s next stop is now public. Fortune Brands Innovations said on Thursday it appointed Banati as chief executive officer effective May 13, with board chair Susan Kilsby taking on CEO duties during the transition; she said Banati brings “strategic clarity” and “operational rigor.” (Business Wire)
Away from the deal paperwork, Kenvue has kept pushing new products. Its Neutrogena unit this week announced Evenly Clear, a six-product adult-acne line co-designed with dermatologists Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali and Dr. Muneeb Shah; Neutrogena global brand lead Chris Riat said the aim was an “accessible price point” alongside clinical claims. (Kenvue)
For traders, the CFO change lands in a sensitive spot: finance teams usually own the controls and filings that keep a merger on schedule. Executive moves can be routine. They can also widen the gap between a target’s share price and the value implied by the buyer’s stock.
The near-term read-through for KVUE is likely to be about continuity — who takes the finance job, and how quickly — rather than a single headline. With a stock component in the consideration, the spread can also move on days when Kimberly-Clark moves, even without new Kenvue-specific news.
Kenvue is due to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results after the close on Feb. 17, and it will skip a quarterly conference call because of the pending Kimberly-Clark transaction, the company said. (Kenvue)
