Why 3M's Facing a Challenging Quarter
Industrial giant 3M (NYSE: MMM) will release its third-quarter earnings on Oct. 26. As ever, quarterly earnings reports help frame investor thinking, whether it's a near-term or long-term perspective. Unfortunately, 3M's management is unlikely to have a lot of great news for investors regarding near-term conditions, but what about the long term? Here's what you need to know before the earnings release.
The case for buying 3M rests on the idea that its substantial free cash flow (FCF) generation will give management the time and firepower to turn around some patchy performance in recent years. Moreover, based on that self-same FCF, the stock looks a good value. If the company hits the Wall Street consensus for FCF of $5.7 billion in 2021, it will trade on 18.2 times its FCF (current market cap of $104 billion).
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Source Fool.com
