3M tops third-quarter expectations, raises full-year outlook

Investing.com -- 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) reported third-quarter adjusted earnings on Tuesday that exceeded analyst expectations, with strong margin improvement prompting the company to raise its full-year guidance.

The industrial conglomerate reported adjusted earnings of $2.19 per share for the third quarter, beating the analyst estimate of $2.07. Revenue rose 4.1% year-on-year to $6.3 billion, slightly ahead of the $6.25 billion consensus, while organic sales increased 3.2% from a year earlier.

3M shares rose 1.4% in pre-market trading.

"I am very pleased with our teams’ focus on reinvigorating organic top-line growth and improving operational performance resulting in another strong quarter," said William Brown, 3M Chairman and CEO.

The company achieved significant margin expansion, with adjusted operating margin reaching 24.7%, an increase of 170 basis points from the prior year. This operational improvement helped drive the 10% YoY increase in adjusted earnings per share.

Based on its performance through the first nine months of 2025, 3M raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $7.95 to $8.05, up from its previous outlook of $7.75 to $8.00. The new midpoint of $8.00 exceeds the analyst consensus of $7.93. The company also expects adjusted operating margin expansion of 180 to 200 basis points for the full year.

Cash generation remained robust with operating cash flow of $1.8 billion and adjusted free cash flow of $1.3 billion during the quarter. The company returned $0.9 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

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