UBS Reportedly Upgrades 3M To Buy, Raises Price Target That Implies A Potential For Over 41% Rally

UBS has reportedly upgraded 3M Co ($MMM) stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ while raising its price target to $184 from $130, implying over 41% upside from the previous levels.

Analyst Amit Mehrotra believes CEO William Brown, who took over the role on May 1, is already making a significant change at the company and noted his focus on new product innovation through reallocating research and development spending and on sales growth through improving order fill rates.

“We see the potential for its new CEO to drive meaningful change at this 120-year-old company,” Mehrotra wrote in a note, according to a CNBC report. “These changes can drive improvement in organic sales growth and [operating] margin, which will drive EPS upside and justify a better multiple on the underlying company than is currently implied in the stock price.”

The analyst also expects 40% earnings growth by 2028, if Brown is successful in his efforts. He also sees potential for meaningful share buybacks, to the tune of around $7.5 billion in repurchases between 2025 and 2028.

In October, the firm reported an upbeat third-quarter earnings with adjusted revenue coming in at $6.1 billion, in line with a Wall Street estimate. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.98 compared to an estimate of $1.90.

The firm also raised its full-year guidance and now expects adjusted EPS to come in at $7.20 to $7.30 versus an earlier guidance of $7.00 to $7.30.

Meanwhile, retail chatter on Stocktwits in recent times shows a mixed take on the stock.

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