3M Company (NYSE:MMM) stock climbed in Tuesday’s premarket session after the maker of Post-it reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year guidance.
The company posted adjusted earnings of $2.40 per share, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.25. Revenue rose 2.4% year over year to $6.50 billion, topping expectations of $6.41 billion.
3M Chairman and CEO William Brown said the company exceeded its own expectations in the second quarter, delivering mid-single-digit sales growth, operating margins of about 25% and double-digit earnings growth. He said the performance reflects progress on the company’s strategic priorities and efforts to build a higher-performing business.
Brown said the strong first-half results and continued business momentum prompted 3M to raise its full-year guidance. He added that management remains confident in its ability to deliver long-term shareholder value.
3M raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday, helped by cost-cutting measures, price increases and continued strength in its Safety & Industrial business, Reuters reported. The company’s margin performance has also benefited from new product launches and customer service initiatives under CEO Brown, helping offset weak demand amid a prolonged inflationary environment.
Sales Growth, Margins Improve
Adjusted sales increased 5.5% from a year earlier, while adjusted organic sales grew 5.4%.
3M launched 92 new products during the quarter, up 44% from the prior year. Adjusted operating margin expanded 40 basis points to 24.9%.
The company generated adjusted free cash flow of $1.3 billion and returned about $1.4 billion to shareholders during the quarter.
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Safety Unit Leads Performance
The Safety & Industrial segment reported revenue of $3.09 billion, up 8.2% year over year. Its adjusted operating margin improved to 27.8% from 25.8%.
Transportation & Electronics revenue rose 6.2% to $2.07 billion. However, adjusted operating margin edged down to 24.4% from 24.6% a year earlier.
Consumer segment revenue fell 1.8% to $1.25 billion, while adjusted operating margin declined to 20.1% from 21.1% in the prior-year quarter.
3M Raises Full-Year Guidance
3M increased its 2026 adjusted earnings forecast to a range of $8.80 to $8.95 per share from its prior outlook of $8.50 to $8.70. The new range is above the Wall Street consensus estimate of $8.75.
The company also updated its full-year revenue outlook to a range of $23.19 billion to $25.37 billion, compared with analysts’ estimate of $25.15 billion.
Management expects organic sales growth of more than 3.5% and adjusted operating margin expansion of 70 to 80 basis points.
The company projects adjusted operating cash flow of $5.8 billion to $6.0 billion, implying adjusted free cash flow conversion of more than 100%.
3M said it remains on track to launch more than 350 new products in 2026 and more than 1,000 by 2027.
MMM Price Action: 3M shares were up 6.22% at $169.00 during premarket trading on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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