3M Co. increased the low end of its 2024 profit forecast and reported third-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates as a push to boost productivity gained traction.

The Maplewood-based maker of Post-it notes and Scotch tape said adjusted profit was $1.98 per share in the most recent period, better than the $1.91 average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It now expects full-year adjusted earnings of at least $7.20 per share, up from the $7 floor in its previous forecast, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The more optimistic outlook marks the second time 3M has boosted its annual profit goal since Chief Executive Officer Bill Brown began the role in May. Still, the $7.25 midpoint of 3M’s new forecast fell short of the $7.30 expected by Wall Street.

3M’s shares pared earlier gains to close down 2.3%. The stock had gained roughly 48% this year through Monday’s close, outpacing the SP 500’s 23% advance.

In an interview, Brown attributed the bulk of the guidance increase to productivity improvements inside 3M’s factories, one of his top priorities. Spending cuts and the effect of share repurchases also helped, he said.

Third-quarter adjusted operating profit margin, a key metric for 3M investors was 23%, ahead of the 22.4% expected by analysts.

The company now expects new product introductions to grow 10% this year with further acceleration in 2025, a sign that the company’s decade long deterioration of its pipeline may be ending, Brown said Tuesday on a conference call with analysts. The company has shifted about 100 employees within its research and development organization to focus on launching new products and taken other steps to bolster its innovation machine, he said.

“I recognize these are only initial steps on a long journey toward bending the organic growth curve,” he said.

Brown called out 3M’s track record of delivering its products on time and in full, an area where he said the company has lost business due to poor performance that is also seeing improvement. 3M ended the third quarter at an 89% on-time, in-full delivery rate, up five percentage points since the beginning of the year, Brown said.

— Bloomberg News

IMF sees global inflation conquered

The global war against inflation has largely been won — and at surprisingly little cost to economic growth, the International Monetary Fund declared Tuesday.

n its latest assessment of the global economy, the IMF predicted that worldwide inflation will cool from 6.7% last year to 5.8% this year and to 4.3% in 2025. It estimates that inflation will fall even faster in the world’s wealthy countries, from 4.6% last year to 2.6% this year and 2% — the target range for most major central banks — in 2025.

The slowdown in inflation, after years of crushing price increases in the aftermath of the pandemic, led the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to cut interest rates this year after they had aggressively raised them to try to tame inflation.

“The battle against inflation is almost won,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s chief economist, told reporters Tuesday. “In most countries, inflation is hovering close to central bank targets.”

GM posts 3Q profit of $3B, off from 2023

U.S. sales are down and a once-reliably profitable joint venture in China is losing money, but General Motors still managed to post a third quarter profit of $3 billion Tuesday, slightly less than it made a year ago.

The Detroit automaker reported $48.8 billion in revenue from July through September, 10% more than last year, aided by U.S. average vehicle sale prices that were steady with last quarter at over $49,000.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said that while overall sales in the U.S., GM’s most profitable market, fell 2.2% in the quarter, much of that drop was from sales to large fleet buyers. Sales to individuals, which generally are more profitable, rose 3%.

U.S. gas prices continue to fall as election nears

Gasoline is approaching or has fallen below $3 a gallon in most states, returning to a national average not seen since February in one of the clearest examples of prices declining after a period of rapid inflation.

Prices at the pump averaged $3.16 for regular gas on Tuesday, down 11% from this time last year, according to the motor club AAA. Average prices have already dipped below $3 a gallon in 19 states, including the election swing states of Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

— From news services