3M Co., which makes everything from Post-Its to protective films for iPads, on Tuesday raised its outlook for the year after reporting first-quarter earnings jumped 80 percent on booming sales in Asia.
The company, based in Maplewood, Minn., now expects per-share earnings of $5.40 to $5.60, excluding a charge related to the new health care law. It forecast $4.90 to $5.10 per share previously.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude one-time items from their estimates, currently expect $5.16 per share.
3M is benefiting from a broader global footprint and sales of a myriad of everyday products. The company makes films for LCD TVs and handheld devices like the iPad, over 1,000 products for cars, including abrasives and paint finishings and a number of health care products from inhalers to stethoscopes.
3M Co. earned $930 million, or $1.29 per share, compared with $518 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding a one-time charge related to tax changes in the new health care law, first-quarter earnings were $1.40 per share.
Revenue rose 25 percent to $6.35 billion. Thomson Reuters says analysts expected a profit of $1.21 per share on revenue of $5.94 billion.
Sales were strongest in emerging economies. They climbed 54.1 percent in the Asia Pacific region, which includes China. Sales in all six 3M business segments grew by double-digit percentages.
3M shares rose $3.76, or 4.3 percent, to $91.20 in premarket trading.
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