3M's Earnings Beat Not Enough: Analyst Stays Neutral After Disappointing Revenue Performance

Shares of 3M Co (NYSE: MMM) tanked in early trading on Tuesday, after the company reported its quarterly results.

While the company reported its earnings slightly ahead of Street expectations, it posted a top line miss, with organic growth remaining weaker than expected, according to BofA Securities.

The 3M Analyst: Andrew Obin maintained a Neutral rating and price target of $120.

The 3M Thesis: The earnings beat came on the back of “below the line items,” like taxes, Obin said in the downgrade note.

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“However, Transportation & Electronics operating profit came in $0.01 better than our model and corporate and unallocated was a $0.18 benefit vs our model,” the analyst wrote. “The corporate and unallocated benefit was driven by costs moved into business segments based on final full year performance,” he added.

Management guided to first quarter and 2024 earnings of $2.00-$2.15 per share and $9.35-$9.75 per share, respectively, both of which came in below the consensus estimates, Obin further stated.

Wall Street analysts view 3M on the whole as a Neutral, given the history of coverage over the past three months. Joe O'Dea from Wells Fargo in 3M is the most optimistic, expecting a 12.0% rise in the stock in the coming year.

MMM Price Action: Shares of 3M had declined by 11.2% to $95.81 at the time of publication Tuesday.

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