3M (NYSE: MMM) today reported first-quarter results that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street, with Health Care turning in the best performance among the industrial conglomerate’s businesses.
Maplewood, Minnesota–based 3M earned nearly $1.3 billion, or $2.26 per share, off $8.8 billion in sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, with the bottom and top lines down 20.0% and 0.2%, respectively.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $2.65, 34¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking for EPS of $2.31 on sales of $8.74 billion.
“In a challenging global environment, 3M delivered a strong start to 2022 with solid growth, operating margins, and robust cash generation,” 3M CEO Mike Roman said in a news release.
Roman later said: “We continue to prioritize actions to better serve our customers while managing supply chain and inflationary challenges. Our balance sheet remains strong, and we continued to invest in capital expenditures and R&D to support long-term growth and advance our sustainability commitments, while also returning significant cash to shareholders. Looking ahead, our teams will continue to focus on improving our operational performance and delivering value for our customers and shareholders.”
3M Health Care — a major protective equipment provider during the COVID-19 pandemic — saw year-over-year organic sales growth of 4.7%. It was the best performance among 3M’s businesses. Health Care sales overall were $2.1 billion, up 2.7%, with EBITDA down slightly to $604 million.
Excluding the additional €150 million that 3M is spending to remediate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Zwijndrecht, the Netherlands, 3M’s 2022 financial outlook remains unchanged, Roman said.
3M now expects full-year GAAP EPS in the $9.89 to $10.39 range, down from the previous $10.15 to $10.65 projection. Full-year adjusted EPS is expected to be in the $10.75 to $11.25 range, excluding estimated impacts from special items.
Investors reacted by sending MMM shares down more than 3% to $143.95 apiece by afternoon trading today.
MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was down 2.3% as the overall U.S. stock market dropped on worries that Fed interest rate hikes will cause another recession.
