The Quarter in Brief
3M reported its third quarter of 2026, the three months to September 30, before the market opened on October 20. Net sales were $6.58 billion, up 1.0% from a year earlier. Reported earnings per share were $2.63, against $1.55. Adjusted earnings per share, the company's measure that leaves out what it calls special items (litigation and PFAS exit costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, restructuring and the changing value of its stake in Solventum), were $2.50, up 12% from $2.23.
Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of about $2.38 a share and sales of about $6.61 billion, according to Financial Modeling Prep's consensus, so earnings came in ahead and sales just short. What set the quarter apart was the gap between the two growth rates: reported sales grew only 1.0% because 3M no longer sells the PFAS chemicals it stopped making last year, while sales without them grew 4.2%, almost all of it in one business, Safety and Industrial.