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3M (MMM) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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3M (MMM - Free Report) closed at $88.79 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.59% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.37%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.29%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.87%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics had lost 15.64% over the past month. This has lagged the Conglomerates sector's loss of 10.56% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.93% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from 3M as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.34, down 13.01% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $8 billion, down 7.24% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.95 per share and revenue of $31.71 billion. These totals would mark changes of -11.39% and -7.37%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for 3M. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.04% lower. 3M currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, 3M currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.09. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.55.

Meanwhile, MMM's PEG ratio is currently 1.4. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Diversified Operations industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.85 as of yesterday's close.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 176, which puts it in the bottom 31% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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