How 3M Is Driving the Dow After Earnings

When 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM | MMM Price Prediction) released its most recent quarterly results before the markets opened on Tuesday, it said that it had $2.31 in earnings per share (EPS) and $7.9 billion in revenue. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates of $2.28 in EPS and revenue of $7.87 billion, and the fourth quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $2.10 on $7.99 billion in revenue.

3M is one of three Dow Jones industrial average stocks that reported Tuesday morning, although this was the only positive report, compared with Pfizer and Verizon. Out of the entire index, 3M is the second-best performing stock on Tuesday, after Boeing, which will report its earnings Wednesday morning.

In terms of its segments, total sales grew 2.4% in Health Care ($1.52 billion), 0.3% in Safety and Graphics ($1.57 billion) and 0.1% in Consumer ($1.21 billion) in the latest quarter. Total sales declined 0.3% in Industrial ($2.95 billion) and 4.5% in Electronics and Energy ($1.34 billion). Organic local-currency sales increased 4.8% in Health Care, 4.1% in Electronics and Energy, 3.3% in Safety and Graphics, 2.5% in Industrial and 1.9% in Consumer.

During the quarter, 3M paid $787 million in cash dividends to shareholders and repurchased $1.3 billion of its own shares.

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Looking ahead to the 2019 full year, 3M expects to see EPS in the range of $10.45 to $10.90, down from the previously expected range of $10.60 to $11.05. Consensus estimates call for $10.75 in EPS and $33.39 billion in revenue for the year.

3M CEO Mike Roman commented:

3M executed well in the fourth quarter, with results that were in line with our expectations. We delivered organic growth of 3 percent – which included growth across all business groups and geographic areas – along with strong cash flow and earnings. The fourth quarter capped an important year for 3M, as we posted good results and continued to take actions to strengthen our company for the future.

Shares of 3M were last seen up more than 3% at $199.16, in a 52-week range of $176.87 to $255.69. The consensus price target is $202.79.

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