3M shares climbed 5.78% to $171.37 after the industrial conglomerate posted third-quarter results that beat profit estimates and an expanded commercial relationship with Amazon gave investors another reason to buy in. The stock had already moved 5.43% higher in after-hours trading Monday once news broke that Amazon received a warrant to buy about $521.4 million of 3M stock as part of the deal, with vesting tied to the hyperscaler's purchases of data center products including optical connectivity.
3M's Q3 2026 sales rose 4.2% year on year to $6.58 billion, matching Wall Street's revenue expectations. Non-GAAP profit came in at $2.50 per share in one report, which was 4.7% above analysts' consensus estimate, while 3M also raised its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance. Expanding margins and strength across industrial markets helped support the higher outlook, and CEO Brown's earnings call highlighted data center expansion and optical technology breakthroughs as drivers of the business.
The move extends a run that has lifted 3M shares 5.28% over the last five trading days and 2.30% over the last 30, putting the stock well above its 52-week low of $139.34 but still short of its 52-week high of $184.90. Options data compiled ahead of earnings had actually signaled traders were bracing for a post-earnings decline, making the rally a reversal of that setup.
What happens next largely hinges on how durable the Amazon tie-up proves to be, since the warrant's vesting is directly linked to Amazon's ongoing purchases of 3M's data center products rather than a fixed payout. Investors will also be watching whether the raised full-year guidance holds up as 3M works through the rest of its fiscal year, and whether the industrial strength cited this quarter persists into the next reporting period.