3M (MMM): adjusted profit per share up 12% to $2.50, 2026 forecast raised, and Amazon given a data-centre warrant

3M, the US maker of Post-it notes, industrial abrasives and electronics materials, reported third-quarter adjusted profit of $2.50 per share, up 12% on a year ago, and raised its 2026 profit forecast. Sales were $6.6bn, up just 1.0% as reported, and the company also disclosed a warrant (a right to buy shares) granted to Amazon tied to data-centre sales.

What happened

On 20 October 2026 3M published results for the three months to 30 September. Reported (GAAP, the standard accounting measure) sales were $6,584m against $6,517m a year earlier. Operating income, the profit from running the business before interest and tax, was $1,558m against $1,447m. Net income attributable to shareholders was $1,373m against $834m, or $2.63 per diluted share against $1.55. The company also raised its 2026 forecast for adjusted profit per share to $9.10 to $9.15, partly because it changed how it calculates its adjusted measures, which we explain below.

The day before, on 19 October 2026, 3M filed a separate notice with the US Securities and Exchange Commission describing an "expanded strategic commercial relationship" with a subsidiary of Amazon. As part of it, 3M issued a warrant giving an Amazon subsidiary the right to buy up to 3,162,015 shares of 3M stock at $164.89 each, over seven years. About 85% of those shares vest, meaning become exercisable, only as Amazon pays 3M for optical connectivity and other data-centre products, with full vesting once cumulative payments reach $6bn. The remaining shares vest on milestones the filing does not specify.

The numbers, explained

Reported sales rose by $67m, or 1.0% ($67m divided by $6,517m). The company's adjusted sales, which leave out manufactured PFAS products (a family of long-lasting chemicals), rose 4.2%; organic sales, which strip out the effect of acquisitions, disposals and currency, rose 3.3% on the adjusted basis and 0.2% on the reported basis. The company says removing PFAS adds about 3.2 percentage points to the reported growth rate, which is why the two figures differ. The operating margin, the share of each sales dollar kept as operating profit, was 23.7% reported ($1,558m divided by $6,584m) against 22.2%, and 26.2% adjusted against 25.1%.

Profit per share needs care. Reported profit per share of $2.63 includes a $0.60 gain because the value of 3M's remaining stake in Solventum, the healthcare business it spun off, rose; a year ago the same item was a $0.13 charge. Removing that and other one-off items gives adjusted profit per share of $2.50: our working is $2.63 minus $0.60, plus $0.19 for litigation and PFAS-exit costs, $0.08 for transformation costs and $0.20 for amortisation (writing off the cost of acquired assets) and acquisition costs, which equals $2.50. A year ago the equivalent sum gives $2.23, so the rise is $0.27, or 12.1%. Management said it now excludes amortisation in all periods; the release says this adds about $0.04 to quarterly adjusted profit per share and about 40 basis points (0.4 percentage points) to the margin, without materially changing the comparison with last year.

Cash flow was mixed. Reported cash from operations was $486m against $1,756m a year earlier, a fall of 72%. The company's adjusted measure, which removes certain special items, was $1,453m against $1,522m, down 4.5%, and adjusted free cash flow, the cash left after spending on equipment and buildings, was about $1.2bn. By division, Safety and Industrial sales were $3,182m against $2,917m, up 9.1%, with organic growth of 7.0%. Transportation and Electronics were $1,999m against $1,992m (organic +0.5%) and Consumer was $1,307m against $1,312m (organic -0.2%). By region, organic sales fell 10.7% in China and 2.8% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but rose 3.9% in the US and Canada.

Why it matters

3M makes money by selling thousands of materials-based products, from abrasives and safety equipment to adhesives, films and consumer goods, to factories, car makers, electronics firms and households. The quarter shows profit growing faster than sales, mostly through a higher margin rather than higher volume. That is useful to understand: the forecast rise is real, but our rough working suggests much of it comes from the accounting change. The old range of $8.80 to $8.95 (from 3M's July results) has a midpoint of $8.875 and the new range a midpoint of $9.125, a rise of $0.25; four quarters at about $0.04 is roughly $0.16 of that, leaving about $0.09. That split is our own estimate, not a company figure.

The Amazon warrant is a way of rewarding a large customer for committing to buy. Based on Investing.com's report of the company's conference call, the warrant covers about 0.6% of 3M's shares, management said there are no volume commitments, and it expects the revenue ramp towards the end of 2027, becoming more meaningful in 2028. At the $164.89 exercise price the full warrant would bring in about $521m if all shares vested and were bought (3,162,015 times $164.89; our working). Other companies selling into data centres can read it as a sign of how much these buyers will pay to secure supply of fibre connectors, though that is our commentary, not a reported fact.

What to watch next

The sources we read give no date for 3M's fourth-quarter results. According to Investing.com's call transcript, management said it will give no formal 2027 guidance until January, and that it expects fourth-quarter organic sales growth of just over 4%; both are the company's own statements, not ours. Checkable points then are whether full-year organic growth stays above 3.5%, whether adjusted profit per share lands inside $9.10 to $9.15, whether adjusted free cash flow reaches about $4.8bn, and how much of the $6bn Amazon sales threshold has been reached. The company has also said it is working with a court-appointed mediator on PFAS personal-injury claims.

• Organic sales: sales growth excluding acquisitions, disposals and currency moves
• Adjusted profit: profit with one-off items such as litigation costs removed
• Warrant: a right to buy shares at a fixed price for a set period
• Basis point: one hundredth of a percentage point

Sources

• 3M Q3 2026 earnings release, Form 8-K (SEC), 20 October 2026
• 3M Reports Third-Quarter 2026 Results; Raises Full-Year EPS Guidance (3M)
• 3M Form 8-K on Amazon commercial relationship and warrant, 19 October 2026 (SEC)
• 3M Q2 2026 earnings release, Form 8-K (SEC), July 2026
• Earnings call transcript: 3M tops Q3 2026 profit views as shares rise (Investing.com)