3M Misfire Threatens New CEO’s Honeymoon Before It Starts
A reduction to its 2018 outlook this early in the year is awkward against a backdrop of accelerating industrial growth.
It's trial by fire for 3M Co.'s CEO-in-waiting.
The maker of everything from Post-it notes to teeth polishers on Tuesday cut its 2018 earnings and organic growth forecast after a disappointing first-quarter operating performance. That's jarring because Chief Operating Officer Michael Roman, who will succeed Inge Thulin as CEO in July, just last month reaffirmed 3M's call for a 3 percent to 5 percent boost in core sales, even as he tamped down expectations for the first quarter. It's a sharp contrast to the brightened outlooks from Honeywell International Inc. and United Technologies Corp., which also reported earnings on Tuesday. I mean, even General Electric Co. kept its 2018 targets intact (for now.)