3M Stock Gains After Q4 Earnings Beat

3M Co MMM reported fourth-quarter FY21 net sales of $8.61 billion, a slight increase of 0.3% year-over-year, +1.3% on an Organic local-currency basis, beating the consensus of $8.59 billion.
Sales by segments: Safety and Industrial $3.1 billion (-2.2% Y/Y), Transportation and Electronics $2.3 billion (-1.5% Y/Y), Health Care $2.3 billion (+0.7% Y/Y) and Consumer $1.5 billion (+4.1% Y/Y).
On a geographic basis, total sales grew 2.1% Y/Y in the Americas, decreased 0.2% Y/Y in the Asia Pacific, and fell 4.5% Y/Y in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).
EPS was $2.31, down 4% Y/Y, beating the consensus of $2.01.
The operating income declined by 12.6% Y/Y to $1.62 billion, and the margin contracted by 270 bps to 18.8%.
3M generated cash from operating activities for FY21 of $7.45 billion, compared to $8.11 billion a year ago.
Q4 operating cash flow was $2 billion and adjusted free cash flow was $1.48 billion, down 29.7% Y/Y.
Adjusted EBITDA declined 9.5% Y/Y to $2.12 billion, and margin contracted by 260 bps to 24.7%.
The company returned $1.8 billion to shareholders via dividends and gross share repurchases during the quarter.
Price Action: MMM shares traded higher by 1.16% at $174.80 during the premarket session on Tuesday.