3M Company MMM reported third-quarter 2024 results, wherein revenues and earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Both the bottom and top lines increased on a year-over-year basis.

It’s worth noting that in April 2024, the company completed the spin-off of its Healthcare business into a separate public company.

Inside the Headlines

3M delivered adjusted earnings of $1.98 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.93. The metric increased from $1.68 per share reported in the year-ago quarter.

The company’s net revenues of $6.3 billion surpassed the consensus estimate of $6.1 billion. The metric increased 0.4% year over year. Organic sales declined 0.1%. Foreign currency translation had a negative impact of 0.3%, while divestitures boosted the top line by 0.8%.

Region-wise, organic sales in the Americas inched up 0.3% year over year, while Asia Pacific organic sales increased 1.7%. Organic sales from businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa decreased 4.2%.

3M Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

3M Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | 3M Company Quote

Segmental Results

Revenues from Safety and Industrial totaled $2.78 billion, up 0.5% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $2.79 billion. Organic revenues increased 0.9% and foreign currency translation had a negative impact of 0.4%.

Revenues from Transportation & Electronics totaled $2.14 billion, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of 1.5%. The downside is attributable to a 1.2% decline in organic sales. The consensus estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $1.92 billion. Foreign currency translation had a 0.3% negative impact on revenues.

Revenues from the Consumer segment fell 1.2% year over year to $1.30 billion. The consensus estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $1.31 billion. Organic sales decreased 0.7%. Movements in foreign currencies had an adverse impact of 0.5%.

Margin Profile

3M’s cost of sales decreased 1.9% year over year to $3.6 billion. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 80.4% to $1.1 billion. Research, development and related expenses increased 0.8% year over year to $269 million.

In the third quarter, 3M reported an operating income of $1.3 billion against an operating loss of $3.1 billion in the year-ago period.

MMM’s adjusted operating income increased 8.2% year over year to $1.4 billion. The adjusted operating margin was 23% compared with 21.6% in the year-ago quarter. The adjusted tax rate was 20.5% compared with 24.8% in the year-ago period.