3M full-year earnings forecast misses Wall Street estimates

Investing.com -- Diversified manufacturing conglomerate 3M (NYSE:MMM) has unveiled an annual earnings forecast that was below Wall Street estimates, sending shares sharply lower in premarket U.S. trading on Tuesday.

Minnesota-based 3M guided for adjusted income per share of $9.35 to $9.75, missing Bloomberg consensus predictions of $9.81.

In a statement, the company noted that the outlook does not reflect the potential impact of recent settlements in legal battles involving public water systems and U.S. military earplugs.

3M received preliminary approval last year for a $10.3 billion resolution to claims brought by U.S. public water providers that its products had contaminated drinking water with toxic chemicals. The company also agreed to pay $6.01 billion to settle roughly 260,000 lawsuits from current and former U.S. veterans who said they had developed hearing issues as a result of faulty earplugs.

In September, 3M flagged that it would face a "slow growth environment" in 2024, as well as weakness at its electronics and consumer divisions in the third and fourth quarters.

Adjusted income per share came in at $2.42 in the final three months of 2023, a rise of 11% compared to the corresponding period last year, although net sales slumped by 0.8% to $8.01B.

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