3M Raises Full-Year 2026 Earnings Outlook as Third-Quarter Profit Tops Views

09:00 AM EDT, 10/20/2026 (MT Newswires) -- 3M (MMM) raised its full-year earnings outlook on Tuesday as the industrial conglomerate's third-quarter bottom line topped market estimates, although revenue fell short of expectations. The company now anticipates adjusted earnings to come in between $9.10 and $9.15 per share for 2026, up from its previous projections of $8.80 to $8.95. The current consensus on FactSet is for non-GAAP EPS of $8.94. The latest guidance reflects about $185 million in oil inflation that the company aims to offset fully through pricing actions, it said in an earnings presentation. In July, Chief Financial Officer Anurag Maheshwari said during a conference call that the group expected oil inflation of $150 million to $175 million. Global energy prices have surged this year as conflicts affecting major crude-producing regions, including the Middle East, have disrupted energy supplies. 3M's adjusted EPS improved to $2.50 for the September quarter from $2.23 a year earlier, ahead of the Street's view for $2.38. Adjusted sales rose 4.2% to $6.6 billion, but were just shy of the average analyst estimate of $6.61 billion. The company continues to forecast adjusted sales to grow more than 4.5% for the ongoing year, while the Street is looking for a gain of 4.8%. "We delivered another quarter of strong results, including solid sales growth, continued margin expansion, double-digit EPS growth, and robust free cash flow," Chief Executive William Brown said in a statement. "Improving productivity through structural transformation and a stronger pipeline of differentiated technologies reinforce our confidence in the full-year outlook and long-term growth and margin potential." Revenue in the safety and industrial segment rose to $3.18 billion in the third quarter from $2.92 billion last year, while transportation and electronics ticked up to almost $2 billion from $1.99 billion. Consumer sales were almost flat at $1.31 billion. Honeywell International (HON), Danaher (DHR), Dow (DOW) and MSA Safety (MSA) are all scheduled to release their latest financial results later this month.