Companies

3M Raises 2026 Adjusted EPS Outlook After Third Quarter

The Tip Desk · October 21, 2026 · 4 min read

The company lifted full-year adjusted EPS to $9.10 to $9.15 after a 26.2% adjusted operating margin and $2.50 of adjusted earnings a share.

3M (MMM) raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings outlook to $9.10 to $9.15 a share after a third quarter in which adjusted operating margin expanded 110 basis points year on year to 26.2% on a new reporting basis.

The materials company had guided to $8.80 to $8.95 after the second quarter and $8.50 to $8.70 after the first quarter. The company said the update incorporated year-to-date performance, the acquisition of Madison Fire & Rescue, and a change in non-GAAP treatment of amortization.

GAAP sales were $6.6 billion, up 1.0% from a year earlier, with organic sales up 0.2%. Adjusted sales were also $6.6 billion, up 4.2%, with adjusted organic sales up 3.3%. Adjusted sales exclude manufactured PFAS products.

Adjusted organic growth slowed from 5.4% in the second quarter after 1.2% in the first. GAAP organic growth was 0.2% after 2.3% in the second quarter and a 1.4% decline in the first.

GAAP operating margin was 23.7%, up 150 basis points from 22.2% a year earlier. GAAP earnings were $2.63 a share, up 70% from $1.55. Adjusted EPS was $2.50, up 12% from $2.23. The company changed non-GAAP reporting to treat amortization of acquired intangible assets as a special item, which it said increased base third-quarter adjusted operating margin by about 40 basis points and adjusted EPS by about $0.04. Year-on-year comparisons were not materially impacted, it said, because all periods were restated on the same basis.

Safety and Industrial was the growth engine. Segment sales rose 9.1% to $3.18 billion, with organic sales up 7.0%. Operating income was $960 million, up from $792 million a year earlier. Fire Safety and Rescue sales were $206 million, up from $108 million. Personal Safety sales were $848 million. Industrial Adhesives and Tapes were $633 million. Electrical Markets were $423 million.

Transportation and Electronics sales were $2.00 billion, up 0.4%, with organic sales up 0.5%. Operating income was $468 million, down from $484 million. Electronics sales were $616 million, down from $668 million. Automotive and Aerospace were $490 million. Commercial Branding and Transportation were $718 million.

Consumer sales fell 0.4% to $1.31 billion, with organic sales down 0.2%. Operating income was $300 million, up from $292 million. Home Improvement sales were $414 million. Home and Auto Care were $307 million. Consumer Safety and Well-Being were $307 million. Packaging and Expression were $279 million.

Geographically, United States and Canada sales rose 4.9%, with organic sales up 3.9%. Latin America sales rose 11.1%. China sales fell 7.3%, with organic sales down 10.7%. Other Asia sales fell 5.8%. Europe, Middle East and Africa sales fell 1.7%.

Cash from operations was $0.5 billion. Adjusted free cash flow was $1.2 billion. The company returned $0.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Chairman and CEO William Brown said the company delivered solid sales growth, continued margin expansion, double-digit EPS growth, and robust free cash flow, and that improving productivity through structural transformation and a stronger pipeline of differentiated technologies reinforced confidence in the full-year outlook.

3M entered an expanded strategic commercial relationship with Amazon to deploy optical connectivity and other data-center products. It issued a warrant to Amazon to purchase up to 3.2 million shares tied to $6 billion in cumulative sales of those products over the next seven years and other milestones. The company also said it is investing to acquire about 4.7% of Genius Electronic Optical Co., Ltd. to support Expanded Beam Optics work.

Full-year 2026 adjusted total sales growth is now expected at more than 4.5%, reflecting adjusted organic sales growth of more than 3.5%. Adjusted operating cash flow is guided at about $5.9 billion, with adjusted free cash flow of about $4.8 billion.

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