CLAIM #42345 · 3M Company (MMM) · 2023Q3 earnings call · Oct 24, 2023 · due Dec 31, 2023
“based on where we are with the midpoint of our guide, our margin rate will be approximately 20%.”
Monish Patolawala · CFO
In context
“that. And maybe kind of taking that and bridging to the Q4 guide. It seems to us by our math, that you're kind of guiding underlying operating margins ex restructuring to something like 19% down from the almost 22% this quarter. I know revenue is down, but it seems to suggest a very sharp decremental. Can you just maybe talk about what's causing that margin step down? Because it feels like a lot of the improvements, whether it's supply chain or price cost are sustainable. Thank you. Monish Patolawala: Yes. Chris, again, depends on the math. I'll just start with margin rates in total. When we started the year or we came into the year, we had said margin rates for the year are going to be around 19%. At the end of Q2, we said margin rates are going between 19.5% to 20% for the year. And now based on where we are with the midpoint of our guide, our margin rate will be approximately 20%. So when you back into it, the fourth quarter is higher than the 19.5% that you have, it's somewhere in that 20.5% to 21% for the fourth quarter. And just to keep in mind, the reason you see this decremental. One is, of course, the restructuring is higher in Q4 versus Q3, plus it's higher of -- the midpoint is $95 million to $100 million of restructuring on a year-over-year basis, if you're doing year-over-year decrementals. The second piece to keep in mind is, in general, revenue in 3M drops from Q3 to Q4, you have less billing days or less business days in Q4. That's why our revenue guide, which is going from $8 billion, it goes down to between $7.6 billion and $7.7 billion, which is basically saying the underlying macro trends are the same. It's just lower billing days or lower business”
Verify independently
SEC filings for MMM ↗ · Claim quote is verbatim from the 2023Q3 earnings call.