3M rises 5.8% after quarterly beat and raised guidance

Session of October 20, 2026 · Published October 21, 2026 · 4 min read

What happened

3M (MMM) rose 5.8% on October 20, 2026, after the company reported third-quarter results that beat estimates and raised its full-year adjusted EPS outlook. The company reported third-quarter 2026 GAAP sales of $6.6 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.50 on the company’s new basis, 5.0% above estimates, according to Reuters. Management raised full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $9.10 to $9.15, citing stronger productivity, cost controls and pricing actions, and highlighted growth tied to an expanded Amazon-related commercial agreement for optical connectivity and data center products.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 20, 2026, MMM closed at $171.37, up 5.8% on the day and 4.2% higher than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The stock closed at $171.37, trading 2.6 times its 20-day average volume and opening 0.6% above the previous close. The session’s gain was 4.1 times a typical daily move for the stock and was 5.2 percentage points better than the Industrials sector median on the day. The S&P 500 on the day rose 0.3% while the S&P 500 over five sessions fell 1.2%; 3M’s change over the last five sessions rose 5.3%.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 20, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.6%, so the latest move equals 3.5 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 3.3%) are unusual.

In context, the session matched one of eight similar five-percent-plus gains the stock had in the past five years. Historically, twenty trading days after such sessions the median result was a gain of 0.8%, with half of those instances higher. The company’s market sensitivity is reflected in a beta of 1.04, meaning the stock tends to move about as much as the market.

The technical picture

The stock was 3.9% above its 20-day moving average, 1.0% above its 50-day moving average and 6.6% above its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average is above the 200-day average, a sign of an established uptrend, and the stock has been above the 200-day average for 7 consecutive trading days. The Relative Strength Index (14 days) is 60, in a neutral range between 30 and 70, and the distance from the 52-week high is 7.3%.

Closing price over the past year. MMM ends the period 6.8% below its 52-week high, above its 50-day average ($169.65) and above its 200-day average ($160.77).

Shorter-term performance showed the stock rose 3.9% over one month and 0.4% over three months, while it rose 12.3% over one year, 3.5 percentage points behind the S&P 500. Volatility was 22% annualized over 60 days, lower than 85% of its own readings over five years, implying relatively calmer price swings compared with the company’s recent history.

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through September 30, 2026, 3M reported revenue of $25.25 billion, which grew 1.7% from a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share for that period were $6.71, which rose 7.2% year over year. Gross margin was 39.5% (a year earlier: 40.6%) and operating margin was 18.7% (a year earlier: 20.2%). Free-cash-flow margin stood at 10.6% and return on invested capital was 14.6%; the balance sheet showed net debt of 1.8 times EBITDA and the share count over one year decreased by 3.6%.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $6.6B, 1.0% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

On valuation, the stock traded at 25.5 times trailing earnings and 19.2 times forward earnings, with a free-cash-flow yield of 3.2%. Its price to trailing earnings is higher than 65% of its own readings over the past five years (five-year median: 17.2 times earnings), signaling a premium relative to its recent history. PromtFinance scores rank the company 45 (Neutral) on Value, 24 (Very weak) on Growth, 67 (Positive) on Quality, 79 (Positive) on Momentum, 52 (Neutral) on Revisions and 86 (Strong) on Stability.

Earnings and analyst expectations

3M reported last on October 20, 2026, earnings per share of $2.50 against $2.38 expected, 5.0% above estimates. The company reported adjusted operating margin at 26.2% on the new basis and generated $0.5 billion of operating cash flow and $1.2 billion of adjusted free cash flow for the quarter. Management said organic sales grew 3.3% in the quarter.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $2.63, against $1.55 in the same quarter a year earlier.

This was the fifteenth consecutive quarter beating estimates, with an average surprise over the last four reports of 5.4% above estimates. Analysts covering the stock number 33 and the consensus rating is Buy; 48% of ratings are Buy. The consensus price target is $191.00, 11.5% above the closing price. The typical two-day reaction after recent reports was that the stock rose 2.6%.

What to watch

Next report: January 19, 2027.
Management guidance: full-year 2026 adjusted EPS raised to a range of $9.10 to $9.15.
Amazon-related commercial agreement: warrants linked to $6 billion in data center sales were cited as a contributor to related sales growth during the quarter.
Cash flow and margins: adjusted free cash flow for the quarter of $1.2 billion and adjusted operating margin reported at 26.2% on the new basis.
Valuation and consensus target: price to trailing earnings of 25.5 times and a consensus price target of $191.00.

Full MMM analysis: scores, chart and financials →