Seasoned investors know that a stock's performance can be driven as much by relative expectations as it is by the company's actual results, and that was clearly the case for 3M (NYSE: MMM) stock Tuesday morning in the wake of the company's third-quarter earnings report.

While the results were far from stellar, the industrial conglomerate was up against muted expectations as it has struggled all year, and the numbers easily topped Wall Street estimates. 3M also raised its guidance on the bottom line.

As of 11:57 a.m. ET, the stock was up by 4.8%.

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Source Fool.com