3M Company MMM is scheduled to release first-quarter 2026 results on April 21, before market open.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MMM’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $6.03 billion, indicating growth of 4.3% from the prior-year quarter’s figure. The consensus mark for earnings is pinned at $2.02 per share, which has remained steady in the past 60 days. The figure indicates growth of 7.5% from the year-ago quarter's figure.
The company delivered better-than-expected results in each of the trailing four quarters, the earnings surprise being 4.6% on average. In the last reported quarter, its earnings of $1.83 per share beat the consensus estimate of $1.82 by 0.6%.
Let’s see how things have shaped up for 3M this earnings season.
Factors to Note Ahead of MMM’s Q1 Results
3M’s Safety and Industrial segment’s results are anticipated to perform well, driven by strength across personal safety, industrial specialties, industrial adhesives and tapes, abrasives and electrical markets. Stable demand for electrical infrastructure products like medium voltage cable accessories and insulation tapes, along with electronics bonding solutions, is likely to have been a tailwind as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segment’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $2.90 billion, indicating approximately a 5.6% increase from the year-ago number.
Solid momentum in the aerospace and defense, commercial branding and automotive markets is likely to have supported 3M‘s Transportation and Electronics segment’s performance. Also, strength in the commercial branding and automotive markets, driven by demand for new products and expanding sales coverage, is proving beneficial for the segment as well.
3M has undertaken structural reorganization actions that include streamlining geographic footprint, simplifying the supply chain and optimizing manufacturing operations. These actions are expected to have supported margins in the to-be-reported quarter.
However, persistent weakness in the packaging and expression, home and auto care and home improvement businesses is likely to have marred the Consumer segment’s performance in the first quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues from the Consumer segment is pegged at $1.14 billion, indicating a decrease of 1.1% year over year.
MMM’s performance has been negatively impacted by high costs and expenses. The company’s solid investments in research and development (R&D) are expected to have pushed up its operating expenses.
3M Company Price and EPS Surprise
3M Company price-eps-surprise | 3M Company Quote
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for MMM 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 +0.19%. 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.
Other Stocks With the Favorable Combination
Here are some other companies, which according to our model, have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in this reporting cycle.
Honeywell International Inc. HON has an Earnings ESP of +0.64% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The company is slated to release first-quarter 2026 results on May 23.
Honeywell’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 7.6%.
ITT Inc. ITT has an Earnings ESP of +3.61% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The company is scheduled to release first -quarter 2026 results on May 6.
ITT’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, the average surprise being 1.7%.
Centene Corporation CNC has an Earnings ESP of +18.9% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. The company is slated to release first-quarter 2026 results on April 28.
Centene’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, while missing the mark in one, the average surprise being 60.6%.
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Honeywell International Inc. (HON): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).