3M Co. said it plans to cut about 2,500 manufacturing jobs, citing persistent economic hurdles, and forecast profit for this year that fell short of Wall Street estimates. The stock tumbled.
“We expect macroeconomic challenges to persist in 2023,” CEO Mike Roman said in a statement on Tuesday. The planned job cuts are “a necessary decision to align with adjusted production volumes”, he said.
The maker of Post-it notes, surgical supplies and touch-screen displays sees full-year adjusted earnings for 2023 in a range of $8.50 to $9.00 per share, excluding special items. That’s below the average analyst estimate. Organic sales could fall as much as 3 per cent, the industrial and consumer-goods conglomerate said.
3M shares dropped as much as 4.7 per cent before the start of regular trading in New York.
The news follows a tumultuous year for the St. Paul, Minnesota-based manufacturing giant and shows there’s more turbulence on the horizon. 3M has battled with softening demand in key segments as well as mounting risks tied to litigation over allegedly defective combat ear plugs. It also faces liabilities over contamination caused by so-called forever chemicals, which the company plans to stop producing by the end of 2025.
The company twice cut its full-year 2022 sales and profit outlook, most recently in October, as a strong US dollar and shaky demand added to pressure from inflation and supply chain turmoil. 3M had about 95,000 employees at the end of 2021, according to securities filings.
Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share and the adjusted operating margin for the period also missed analysts’ estimates.
