3M raises 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $9.10 to $9.15 as quarterly profit rises

3M Company (MMM) said Tuesday that third-quarter sales rose 1.0% to $6.6 billion from a year earlier, and GAAP earnings per share reached $2.63, up 70%. The company also raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $9.10 to $9.15.

The company said in a filing that the figures are contained in a press release issued Tuesday.

Here's how the company did:

• GAAP earnings per share: $2.63 vs. $1.55 a year earlier
• Adjusted earnings per share: $2.50 vs. $2.23 a year earlier
• Net sales: $6,584 million vs. $6,517 million a year earlier
• Net income attributable to 3M common shareholders: $1,373 million vs. $834 million a year earlier

GAAP sales growth was driven mainly by organic sales, which rose 0.2% from a year earlier. Excluding manufactured PFAS products, adjusted sales rose 4.2% to $6.6 billion, and adjusted organic sales rose 3.3%.

GAAP operating margin was 23.7%, up 150 basis points. Adjusted operating margin was 26.2%, up 110 basis points from 25.1%.

Here's how 3M's business segments did during the quarter:

• Safety and Industrial: sales of $3,182 million, up 9.1%; operating income of $960 million vs. $792 million a year earlier
• Transportation and Electronics: sales of $1,999 million, up 0.4%; operating income of $468 million vs. $484 million
• Consumer: sales of $1,307 million, down 0.4%; operating income of $300 million vs. $292 million

Regionally, Latin America sales rose 11.1% and United States and Canada rose 4.9%. China fell 7.3%, Other Asia fell 5.8% and Europe, Middle East and Africa fell 1.7%.

For the first nine months, sales were $19,114 million, up 1.6% from $18,815 million a year earlier. GAAP earnings per share were $5.63, up 14% from $4.93, and adjusted EPS was $7.11, up 12% from $6.34.

The company raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $9.10 to $9.15. It now expects adjusted total sales growth of more than 4.5%, including adjusted organic sales growth of more than 3.5%.

The company also expects adjusted operating cash flow of about $5.9 billion, adjusted free cash flow of about $4.8 billion and an adjusted effective tax rate of about 20%. The update reflects year-to-date performance, the acquisition of Madison Fire & Rescue and a change in how 3M treats amortization.

The filing does not give the previous guidance range or the price of the Madison Fire & Rescue acquisition.

3M Chairman and CEO William Brown said, "We delivered another quarter of strong results, including solid sales growth, continued margin expansion, double-digit EPS growth, and robust free cash flow." Brown added, "Improving productivity through structural transformation and a stronger pipeline of differentiated technologies reinforce our confidence in the full-year outlook and long-term growth and margin potential."

Third-quarter operating cash flow was $486 million, against $1,756 million a year earlier. Adjusted free cash flow was $1,197 million, down from $1,310 million. The company returned $0.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in the quarter.

For the first nine months, purchases of treasury stock and dividends paid totaled $4,441 million, up from $3,874 million. A noncontrolling interest invested $1,277 million, and acquisitions, net of cash acquired, totaled $1,910 million.

Starting in the third quarter, 3M treats amortization of acquired intangible assets as a special item for all periods presented. The company said the change raises base third-quarter adjusted operating margin by about 40 basis points and adjusted EPS by about $0.04.

GAAP EPS included a $0.60 per share gain tied to the increase in value of 3M's Solventum ownership, which adjusted results exclude. Other special items were litigation and PFAS exit costs of $0.19 per share, transformation costs of $0.08 per share, and amortization and acquisition-related costs of $0.20 per share.

Selling, general and administrative expenses rose to $921 million from $820 million. The company recorded no loss on business divestitures this quarter, compared with $161 million a year earlier. Other income, net was $112 million, against $300 million of expense last year.

3M entered an expanded strategic commercial relationship with Amazon to deploy and scale its optical connectivity and other Data Center related products. It issued Amazon a warrant to buy up to 3.2 million shares of 3M common stock, based on $6 billion in cumulative sales of those products over the next seven years and other event-based milestones.

3M is also investing to acquire about 4.7% of the common shares of Genius Electronic Optical Co., Ltd. (GSEO), an optical technology company, to advance Expanded Beam Optics technology development and manufacturing.