3M's Q3 Earnings & Revenues Surpass Estimates, Increase Y/Y

3M Company MMM reported third-quarter 2025 results, wherein revenues and earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. 

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

Inside MMM’s Headlines

3M delivered adjusted earnings of $2.19 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.10. The company reported earnings of $1.98 per share in the year-ago quarter.

The company reported net revenues of $6.52 billion in the quarter. The metric increased 3.5% year over year. Organic sales increased 2.6%. Foreign currency translation had a positive impact of 1% while acquisitions/divestitures had a negative impact of 0.1%.

MMM’s adjusted revenues of $6.30 billion beat the consensus estimate of $6.25 billion. On an adjusted basis, organic revenues increased 3.2% year over year.

Region-wise, organic sales in the Americas rose 2.9% year over year while Asia Pacific organic sales increased 2.9%. Organic sales from businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa increased 1.3%.

3M’s Segmental Results

Revenues from Safety and Industrial totaled $2.92 billion, up 5.4% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $2.90 billion. Organic revenues increased 4.1% and foreign currency translation had a positive impact of 1.3%.

Revenues from Transportation & Electronics totaled $2.19 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 2.4%. The upside is attributable to a 1.8% increase in organic sales. The consensus estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $1.98 billion. Foreign currency translation had a 0.9% favorable impact while divestiture had an adverse impact of 0.3% on revenues.

Revenues from the Consumer segment increased 0.9% year over year to $1.31 billion. The consensus estimate for the segment’s revenues was also pegged at $1.31 billion. Organic sales increased 0.3%. Movements in foreign currencies had a positive impact of 0.6%.

MMM’s Margin Profile

3M’s cost of sales increased 4% year over year to $3.79 billion. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 22.8% to $820 million. Research, development and related expenses increased 10.4% year over year to $297 million.

In the third quarter, 3M reported an operating income of $1.45 billion, up 10% from the year-ago period.

MMM’s adjusted operating income increased 11.6% year over year to $1.56 billion. The adjusted operating margin was 24.7% compared with 23% in the year-ago quarter. The adjusted tax rate was 19.9% compared with 20.5% in the year-ago quarter.

3M’s Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Exiting the third quarter, 3M had cash and cash equivalents of $4.7 billion compared with $5.6 billion at the end of December 2024. Long-term debt was $11.9 billion at the end of the quarter compared with $11.1 billion at the end of December 2024.

3M generated net cash of $723 million in operating activities compared with $1 million cash generated in the year-ago quarter. Capital used for purchasing property, plant and equipment decreased 25.6% to $662 million.

Adjusted free cash flow at the end of the quarter was $3.08 billion, up 13% year over year. Adjusted free cash flow conversion was 91% in the quarter.

In the first six months of 2025, 3M rewarded its shareholders with $1.2 billion in dividend payments.

MMM’s 2025 Guidance

For 2025, MMM expects adjusted earnings to be in the range of $7.95-$8.05 per share compared with $7.75-$8.00 previously projected. The midpoint of the guided range is about $8.00, which reflects an increase from earnings of $7.30 per share reported in 2024.

Adjusted total revenues are expected to grow more than 2.5%, while adjusted organic revenue growth is projected to be more than 2%. It expects adjusted operating cash flow of $5.2-$5.4 billion, with more than 100% adjusted free cash flow conversion rate.

MMM’s Zacks Rank

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked companies are discussed below.

Grupo Cibest S.A. CIB currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. Grupo Cibest delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 6.5%.

In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CIB’s 2025 earnings has increased 3.3%.

ITT Inc. ITT presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). It has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 1.5%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ITT’s 2025 earnings has increased 0.2% in the past 60 days.

Flowserve Corporation FLS presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. FLS delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 5.5%.

In the past 60 days, the consensus estimate for Flowserve’s 2025 earnings has remained steady.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the months ahead. They include

Stock #1: A Disruptive Force with Notable Growth and Resilience

Stock #2: Bullish Signs Signaling to Buy the Dip

Stock #3: One of the Most Compelling Investments in the Market

Stock #4: Leader In a Red-Hot Industry Poised for Growth

Stock #5: Modern Omni-Channel Platform Coiled to Spring

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +171%, +209% and +232%.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Source Zacks-com