3M will announce its 2025 fiscal year third-quarter earnings before the market opens on October 21, Eastern Time.
According to Bloomberg analysts' forecasts, the company’s third-quarter revenue is expected to be $6.255 billion, representing a 3.09% year-over-year growth; adjusted earnings per share (EPS) is anticipated to be $2.07, reflecting a 4.83% increase year-over-year.
Review of Last Quarter
3M's second-quarter earnings report, released in July 2025, exceeded analysts' expectations, thanks to solid growth across its business divisions. The company raised its full-year EPS guidance, indicating that its efforts in cost control and productivity enhancement have begun to show results, despite prevailing macroeconomic and geopolitical risks.
Earnings Highlights:
Adjusted sales: $6.2 billion, up 12% year-over-year
Adjusted EPS: $2.16, up 12% year-over-year
Organic sales growth of 1.5%
Free cash flow: $1.3 billion
Full-year EPS guidance raised to be within $7.75-$8.00, surpassing the previous forecast range of $7.60-$7.90.
This Quarter's Highlights
Orders and Demand:
Automotive Electronics and Industrial Consumables demand remains resilient, especially with seasonal stocking of consumer adhesives. Orders are expected to remain strong in the third quarter, providing a high level of revenue certainty.
Transportation and Electronics: This segment is expected to continue growing, particularly in new energy vehicles, ADAS/onboard electronics, and consumer electronics precision materials. As technology upgrades and penetration increases, order visibility is gradually improving.
Safety and Industrial: The core product share of this segment continues to rise, and third-quarter orders are expected to remain relatively stable in quality, despite some structural differences in regional and terminal demand.
Profit and Cash Flow:
Gross Margin: As raw material costs stabilize and product mix is optimized, gross margin is expected to remain supported in the third quarter. In the first quarter, the gross margin was 48.7%, up 120 basis points year-over-year; this trend is expected to continue.
Operating Profit Margin: Cost control and gross margin enhancement are anticipated to positively impact operating profit margin. The company continues to focus on high-return SKUs and improving production efficiency, expecting quarter-on-quarter improvement in the operating profit margin in the third quarter.
Free Cash Flow: The company is expected to maintain strong free cash flow, primarily through effective working capital management and channel decompression strategies.
Product Matrix Upgrades:
Transportation and Electronics: Revenues in this segment are expected to continue growing, especially with the rising demand for new energy vehicles, ADAS/onboard electronics, and consumer electronics precision materials. The proportion of high-value materials and solutions is expected to increase, supporting gross margin improvement.
Safety and Industrial: Focusing on SKU and channel strategies enhances the "gold content" of their product mix and is expected to further drive profit growth in the third quarter. Additionally, synergy in procurement and supply chain helps reduce stockout risks and stabilize gross margin.
Consumer Goods: The consumer goods segment is driven by seasonal stocking in the third quarter, expected to remain stable in revenues while maintaining overall margin robustness through better pricing and promotional management.
Conclusion:
3M is expected to continue achieving modest growth and improving profit quality in the third quarter. Main driving forces include pricing strategies, cost control, and organic growth across multiple business segments. If the empowerment in pricing execution, raw material prices, and supply chain stability remain within control, third-quarter performance is likely to meet or exceed expectations, laying the foundation for continued growth in the fourth quarter.
This content is generated based on Tiger AI and Bloomberg data, and is for reference only.