Should 3M Stock Be Part Of Your Portfolio Ahead Of Q3 Earnings?

3M Company MMM is scheduled to release third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 22, before market open.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.93 per share, reflecting an increase of 0.5% in the past 60 days. The consensus mark implies a 28% decline from the year-ago reported actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $6.1 billion, indicating a 26.6% decrease year over year.

Estimate Movement

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

It is worth noting that in April 2024, 3M completed the spin-off of its Health Care business into a separate public company. Notably, the spin-off is likely to have weighed on MMM's year-over-year top-line comparison in the quarter.

Despite the unfavorable impacts of the Health Care spin-off, the company's third-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from strength across its end markets, channel inventory normalization, solid operational execution and cost-saving initiatives.

3M has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 12.6%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 16.3%.

3M's Earnings Surprise History

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for 3M this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is the case here, as elaborated below.

Earnings ESP: MMM has an Earnings ESP of +1.81% as the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged at $1.97 per share, which is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.93. You can uncover the best stocks before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: 3M presently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

3M Company Price ...