The Key Numbers 3M Needs to Improve
3M's (NYSE: MMM) management raised its full-year sales guidance midpoint but lowered its earnings during its third-quarter earnings report. Its earnings highlighted one of the themes of the current earnings season. Underlying demand is good, but there's pressure on costs and the ability of companies to meet that demand.
In such an environment, it's becoming increasingly important for companies to raise prices, but unfortunately, 3M had some bad news on that front. Let's look at the details behind the third quarter, and why its margin performance is so important.
Looking at the changes in 3M's guidance through 2021 says a lot about the industrial sector this year. 3M started the year in recovery mode. However, in January, management gave some pretty broad guidance for sales growth, something reflective of the uncertainty over the pace of the reopening of the economy.
Source Fool.com
