3M Beats and Raises Its 2026 Outlook to $9.10-$9.15, Then Slips After Its Amazon-Deal Run-Up

3M reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.50 a share on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, above the $2.39 analysts expected, and raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $9.10 to $9.15 from $8.80 to $8.95. The results reached the MoveSurge news feed at 06:30:00 ET. 3M traded at $168.75 just before them, $169.78 a minute later, up 0.61%, and $166.50 ten minutes later, down 1.33%.

The stock had already risen before the report. 3M closed Monday at $162.01, then climbed after the close when it disclosed a data-center supply deal with Amazon that includes a warrant on up to about 3.16 million 3M shares. At $168.75 just before the results it stood 4.2% above Monday's close (our calculation), so the earnings beat landed on a price that already reflected the Amazon news.

Part of the raise is accounting

The new guidance raises the midpoint by $0.25 a share (our calculation), and not all of that comes from the business. 3M now moves the amortization of intangible assets, the gradual write-down of acquired assets such as patents and customer lists, into the special items it leaves out of adjusted results. That change alone added about $0.04 to third-quarter adjusted EPS, and 3M did not give a figure for the full year. The rest of the raise reflects results so far this year and the purchase of Madison Fire & Rescue. For the year, 3M now expects adjusted organic growth above 3.5% and adjusted sales growth above 4.5%. This is its second raise in a row: in July it lifted the range to $8.80 to $8.95 from $8.50 to $8.70.

Slower growth than in the spring

Adjusted organic growth, which leaves out currency moves and acquisitions, slowed to 3.3% from 5.4% in the second quarter, and the GAAP version was 0.2%. Margins kept rising: the adjusted operating margin reached 26.2%, up 110 basis points, or 1.1 percentage points, from a year earlier.

How the stock traded after the release

On the one-minute chart, 3M rose to $169.78 in the first minute and was at $166.73 thirteen minutes after the release, down 1.20%. The reaction reading at ten minutes was $166.50, down 1.33%. In July, after second-quarter results that also beat and raised, the stock rose 4.2% in the first minute and was up 4.3% after 15 minutes.