3M beats 4Q profit expectations, misses revenue forecasts

3M Co. (MMM) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $1.18 billion.

The St. Paul, Minnesota-based company said it had profit of $1.81 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.79 per share.

The maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics posted revenue of $7.72 billion in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts. Analysts expected $7.78 billion, according to Zacks.

3M expects full-year earnings to be $8 to $8.30 per share.

3M shares have dropped slightly since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has stayed nearly flat. The stock has risen 26 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap ) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MMM at http://www.zacks.com/ap/MMM

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Keywords: 3M, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings