On Friday, July 26th, local time in the United States, the stock price of international giant 3M Company (MMM) opened high and rose. As of the close, the company's stock price surged 22.99% to $127.16, with a market value increase of $13 billion (approximately RMB 94.3 billion) to $69.86 billion. This is also the largest daily increase in the company's stock price since records began in 1972.
On the news front, 3M announced its Q2 2024 financial report on July 26, showing net sales of $6.255 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5%. According to the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), earnings per share were $2.17, a year-on-year increase of 117%. 3M Company has adjusted its full year 2024 adjusted earnings per share forecast from $6.80 to $7.30 to $7.00 to $7.30.
At the same time, 3M has raised its full year profit guidance, indicating that the company has made progress after a long period of turbulence. The company expects adjusted earnings per share for 2024 to be between $7.00 and $7.30, higher than the previous market expectation of $6.80 to $7.30. The company reiterates that it expects an adjusted annual sales growth rate of -0.25% to 1.75%; The expected organic sales growth rate is 0% to 2%.
3M CEO William Brown said, "We achieved another strong quarter with double-digit adjusted earnings growth and strong cash generation. I want to thank 3M employees for their excellent execution, which we expect to continue in the second half of this year." William Brown said, "Looking ahead, I am focused on three priorities: driving sustained organic revenue growth, improving operational performance, and effectively allocating capital. I have long admired 3M's innovation record and am pleased to lead this great company and see future opportunities." William Brown also said that this year will see some gradually improving price trends.
According to analysis, William Brown, who took over as CEO on May 1st, pointed out the company's shortcomings and identified his future priorities. His top priority is to accelerate the pace of 3M's new product development and inject vitality into his acknowledged outdated product portfolio. William Brown said during the company's earnings conference call on Friday, "Our raw materials here can create a lot of value. I encourage people to challenge the way we used to do things every day." Bloomberg commented that this is the information that shareholders have been eagerly anticipating. Under the leadership of former CEO Mike Roman, 3M faced difficulties due to stagnant sales, significant legal liabilities, and soaring raw material costs, resulting in a market value loss of over $60 billion.
William Brown said that 3M has over 25000 suppliers, but more than 80% of its raw materials come from a single company. For a large industrial company, this is astonishing data, especially after the pandemic supply chain crisis forced many manufacturers to establish backups for their spare parts and material suppliers. Regarding this, Scott Davis, an analyst at Melius Research, a Wall Street consulting firm, stated in a research report that these descriptions of 3M's manufacturing business evoke memories of the 1970s rather than "anything we hear in modern times". Scott Davis said, 'Perhaps the good news is that William Brown has the courage to speak up about all of this.'. We all know that if you are unwilling to admit that this is a problem, you cannot solve it
3M Company was founded in 1902, with its global headquarters located in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. It is a world-renowned diversified technology innovation enterprise and one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Component Index. For over 100 years, 3M has developed more than 60000 products, ranging from household items to medical products, from transportation and construction to various fields such as commerce, education, electronics, and communication.
Currently, 3M has branches in over 70 countries and regions worldwide, with products sold in over 200 countries and regions, and an annual revenue exceeding $30 billion.
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