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3M's Earnings & Revenues Surpass Estimates in Q2, Increase Y/Y

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Key Takeaways

  • MMM's Q2 EPS rose to $2.16, beating estimates and up from $1.93 a year earlier.
  • Adjusted revenues grew 1.5% to $6.16B, led by a 3.6% gain in Safety and Industrial segment sales.
  • MMM now expects 2025 EPS of $7.75-$8.00, up from its prior forecast of $7.60-$7.90.

3M Company (MMM - Free Report) reported second-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. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Inside MMM’s Headlines

3M delivered adjusted earnings of $2.16 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.01. The company reported earnings of $1.93 per share in the year-ago quarter.

The company reported net revenues of $6.34 billion in the quarter. The metric increased 1.4% year over year. Organic sales inched up 0.6%. Foreign currency translation had a positive impact of 0.8% while acquisitions/divestitures did not have any material impact.

MMM’s adjusted revenues of $6.16 billion beat the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. On an adjusted basis, organic revenues increased 1.5% year over year.

Region-wise, organic sales in the Americas inched up 0.6% year over year while Asia Pacific organic sales increased 2.3%. Organic sales from businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa decreased 2.3%.

3M Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

3M Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

3M Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | 3M Company Quote

3M’s Segmental Results

Revenues from Safety and Industrial totaled $2.86 billion, up 3.6% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $2.78 billion. Organic revenues increased 2.6% and foreign currency translation had a positive impact of 1%.

Revenues from Transportation & Electronics totaled $2.13 billion, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of 0.6%. The downside is attributable to a 1.5% decline in organic sales. The consensus estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $2.14 billion. Foreign currency translation had a 1% favorable impact while divestiture had an adverse impact of 0.1% on revenues.

Revenues from the Consumer segment increased 0.6% year over year to $1.27 billion. The consensus estimate for the segment’s revenues was also pegged at $1.27 billion. Organic sales increased 0.3%. Movements in foreign currencies had a positive impact of 0.3%.

MMM’s Margin Profile

3M’s cost of sales increased 2.1% year over year to $3.65 billion. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 11.9% to $1.27 billion. Research, development and related expenses increased 2.9% year over year to $288 million.

In the second quarter, 3M reported an operating income of $1.14 billion, down 10.4% from the year-ago period.

MMM’s adjusted operating income increased 15.7% year over year to $1.51 billion. The adjusted operating margin was 24.5% compared with 21.6% in the year-ago quarter. The adjusted tax rate was 20.8% compared with 19.1% in the year-ago quarter.

3M’s Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Exiting the second quarter, 3M had cash and cash equivalents of $3.7 billion compared with $5.6 billion at the end of December 2024. Long-term debt was $12.5 billion at the end of the quarter compared with $11.1 billion at the end of December 2024.

3M used net cash of $954 million in operating activities against $1.02 billion cash generated in the year-ago quarter. Capital used for purchasing property, plant and equipment decreased 22.7% to $208 million.

Adjusted free cash flow at the end of the quarter was $1.28 billion, up 10.2% year over year. Adjusted free cash flow conversion was 110% in the quarter.

In the first six months of 2025, 3M rewarded its shareholders with $786 million in dividend payments.

MMM’s 2025 Guidance

For 2025, MMM expects adjusted earnings to be in the range of $7.75-$8.00 per share compared with $7.60-$7.90 previously projected. The midpoint of the guided range is about $7.88, which reflects an increase from earnings of $7.30 per share reported in 2024.

Adjusted total revenues are expected to grow about 2.5%, while adjusted organic revenue growth is projected to be 2%. It expects adjusted operating cash flow of $5.1-$5.5 billion, with more than 100% adjusted free cash flow conversion rate.

3M’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some other top-ranked stocks from the same space are discussed below:

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII - Free Report) presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. HII’s earnings surpassed the consensus estimate twice and missed in two other occasions in the trailing four quarters. The average earnings surprise was 4.2%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Huntington Ingalls’ 2025 earnings has increased 0.8%.

Howmet Aerospace (HWM - Free Report) currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. HWM has an impressive earnings surprise history, having outperformed the consensus estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, the average surprise being 8.8%.  In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Howmet Aerospace’s 2025 earnings has increased 0.9%.

Federal Signal Corporation (FSS - Free Report) currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. FSS has an impressive earnings surprise history, having outperformed the consensus estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, the average surprise being 6.4%.  In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Federal Signal’s 2025 earnings has been stable.

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