3M Co. (NYSE:MMM) said on Tuesday that it delivered fourth-quarter adjusted earnings ahead of expectations and issued an outlook pointing to continued growth in 2026.
The group reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.83 for the quarter, above the $1.80 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $6.1 billion, also beating forecasts of $6.01 billion. Shares slipped 1.06% in pre-market trading following the results.
Adjusted organic sales increased 2.2% year on year in the fourth quarter, and adjusted operating margin widened by 140 basis points to 21.1%, reflecting improved execution and cost discipline.
“2025 was an important year for 3M as we build a strong foundation that is reshaping our operating model and driving sustainable value creation,” said William Brown, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our accelerated pace of innovation and commercial execution positions us to outperform the macro environment again in 2026.”
For the full year 2025, 3M posted adjusted EPS of $8.06, up 10% from the prior year. Adjusted operating margin expanded by 200 basis points to 23.4%, while adjusted sales rose 2.7% year on year to $24.3 billion.
Looking ahead, the company guided for fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of between $8.50 and $8.70, broadly in line with analyst expectations of $8.61. 3M expects adjusted total sales growth of about 4%, underpinned by adjusted organic growth of roughly 3%.
The group also forecast adjusted operating margin expansion of 70 to 80 basis points and adjusted operating cash flow of $5.6 billion to $5.8 billion in 2026, translating into more than 100% adjusted free cash flow conversion.
During the fourth quarter, 3M returned $0.9 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, while generating $1.6 billion in operating cash flow and $1.3 billion in adjusted free cash flow.