3M Solid Earnings, but Valuation Concerns Remain

By Chris Lange Published Jan 27, 10:05AM EST

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Tuesday before the markets opened, 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) released its fourth-quarter financial results as $1.81 in earnings per share and $7.7 billion in revenue.

Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $1.80 in earnings per share and $7.77 billion in revenue. In the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 in earnings per share and revenue of $7.57 billion.

The company returned $1.8 billion to shareholders during the quarter. This broke down to $544 million in cash dividends and $1.3 billion in shares repurchased. While currency and foreign exchange woes played an issue, the good news at 3M is that its core areas of operation all saw growth. When we recently featured the bullish and bearish case for 3M in 2015, one key issue we cited was that it was among the recent dividend hikes and buybacks that were simply too big to ignore.

3M reported its business segments revenue as:

Industrial up 1.4% to $2.6 billion. Local-currency sales increased 5.9% and foreign currency translation reduced sales by 4.5%.
Health Care up 2.4% to $1.4 billion. Local-currency sales increased 6.4%, acquisitions increased sales by 0.6% and foreign currency translation reduced sales by 4.6%.
Electronics and Energy up 3.3% to $1.4 billion. Local-currency sales increased 6.2% and foreign currency translation reduced sales by 2.9%.
Safety and Graphics up 3.4% to $1.4 billion. Local-currency sales increased 9.2% and foreign currency translation reduced sales by 5.8%.
Consumer up 2.2% to $1.1 billion. Local-currency sales increased 5.8% and foreign currency translation reduced sales by 3.6%.

All in all, this seems like a very acceptable earnings report, when you consider the woes that currencies are playing on other U.S. industrial giants. Still, our own bull and bear analysis, which is less than one month old, was taking this into consideration. 3M started 2015 valued at close to 21 times trailing earnings per share and was valued at roughly 19.5 times expected earnings per share. That is far from cheap.

Inge G. Thulin, chairman, president and CEO of 3M, said:

3M delivered strong results in the fourth quarter, which culminated a solid 2014 performance. Organic growth was positive across all business groups and geographic areas, and operating margins rose by nearly a full point. We once again generated substantial free cash flow, which allowed for continued investment in our businesses and significant return of cash to our shareholders.

Shares of 3M closed Monday up $0.22 at $164.24, and Tuesday’s early trading had shares down $0.05 at $164.19. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $166.27 and a 52-week trading range of $123.61 to $168.16.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.