3M Profit Beats Estimates, Sales Fall Short

3M said it had net income of $1.3 billion, or $1.98 a share, in the third quarter, up from $1.23 billion, or $1.78 a share, in the year-earlier period. The maker of Post-it notes and a range of industrial goods said sales rose 2.8% to $8.1 billion. The FactSet consensus was for per-share earnings of $1.96 and sales of $8.227 billion. The company said it is now expecting full-year per-share earnings of $7.40 to $7.50 compared with a prior outlook of $7.30 to $7.55. Organic local-currency sales growth is expected at 4% to 5%, compared with 3% to 6% previously. The company is expecting currency fluctuations to reduce sales by about 1.5% for the year, up from an earlier estimate of 1%. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 0.9% in the year so far, while the Dow is down 0.7%.