3M (MMM.US) gains over 4.00% following the release of its quarterly results. The international conglomerate engaged in the production and sale of plastics, abrasives, electronics, and pharmaceuticals reported sales of $6.1 billion, a 1.0% year-over-year increase.

  • Adjusted sales: $6.1 billion (up 1.5% year-over-year)
  • GAAP EPS: $2.48 (up 154% year-over-year)
  • Adjusted EPS: $1.98 (up 18% year-over-year)
  • Adjusted operating margin: 23.0% (up 1.4 percentage points year-over-year)
  • Free cash flow: $1.5 billion (adjusted)

Sales breakdown by sector:

  • Safety and Industry: This segment reported sales of $2.77 billion, a slight increase compared to $2.75 billion in Q3 2023, with organic growth of 0.9%.
  • Transportation and Electronics: Sales in this segment reached $1.91 billion ($1.88 billion a year ago). Organic growth was stronger at 2.0%, driven by single-digit growth in electronics and advanced materials, although automotive and aerospace fell by mid-single digits.
  • Consumer: Sales in the consumer segment slightly declined to $1.30 billion compared to $1.32 billion in Q3 2023.

Operationally, 3M continued to focus on improving efficiency. The on-time-in-full (OTIF) delivery rate improved by 5 percentage points year-to-date. The company also increased its focus on accelerating new product launches (up 10%).

Forecasts

3M CEO William Brown highlighted the company's strong operational performance and reaffirmed confidence in a solid year-end finish. The company updated its full-year 2024 EPS forecasts to a range of $7.20 to $7.30, slightly improving from previous estimates ($7.00 - $7.30). The company expects flat to 2% adjusted sales growth.

Chart (D1 interval)

The company's stock is up 4.00% to $140 per share.

 

Source: xStation 5