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Here's Why 3M (MMM) Fell More Than Broader Market

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3M (MMM - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $134.78, demonstrating a -0.48% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.17%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.44%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.04%.

The maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics's shares have seen an increase of 2.48% over the last month, not keeping up with the Conglomerates sector's gain of 12.81% and outstripping the S&P 500's gain of 1.25%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of 3M in its upcoming release. On that day, 3M is projected to report earnings of $1.92 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 28.36%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.09 billion, down 26.78% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $7.22 per share and a revenue of $24.42 billion, demonstrating changes of -21.86% and -25.27%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for 3M. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.22% upward. 3M is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Digging into valuation, 3M currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.77. This valuation marks no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.77.

We can also see that MMM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.5. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Diversified Operations industry stood at 1.92 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Diversified Operations industry is part of the Conglomerates sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 143, positioning it in the bottom 44% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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