3M Bought $3.2 Billion of Its Own Shares Through September 2026
Key Facts
3M bought $3.2 billion of its own shares in the first nine months of 2026, compared with $2.7 billion in the same period of 2025, according to the company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The spending on buybacks puts the company’s capital-return policy in the context of its performance this year, following its third-quarter results. The reported new $6 billion authorization and announcement of a fourth-quarter dividend of $0.78 per share could not be verified from a reliable open source. They therefore cannot be treated as confirmed decisions in this report.
The purchases are part of a buyback program approved by the board in February 2025, replacing the 2018 program and authorizing the purchase of up to $7.5 billion of outstanding common shares, with no specified expiration date, according to the filing. As of September 30, 2026, about $1.5 billion remained available under that authorization. This means the figures in the filing describe the balance remaining under the existing program at the end of September; they do not establish that a new authorization was issued afterward. The open filing also does not confirm that the available balance rose to $7.5 billion.
On results, 3M reported third-quarter GAAP sales of $6.6 billion, up 1% year over year, while operating margin was 23.7%, an increase of 150 basis points. Earnings per share were $2.63, up 70% from the third quarter of the prior year, according to the filing. The figures show profitability improving faster than sales during the quarter. Chief Executive William Brown said the company delivered “strong sales growth, continued margin expansion, double-digit earnings-per-share growth, and strong free cash flow.”
Under the adjusted measures reported by the company, sales were $6.6 billion, with organic growth of 3.3% year over year in the third quarter. Adjusted operating margin was 26.2% on the new basis, up 110 basis points, while adjusted earnings per share reached $2.50, an annual increase of 12%. These adjusted indicators provide a parallel view of the accounting results, showing growth in organic sales and improvements in margin and earnings per share. Brown attributed his confidence in the outlook to productivity improvements and strengthening the portfolio of differentiated technologies, according to the earnings release.
The company returned $0.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in the third quarter of 2026, according to the earnings release. On a quarterly basis, 3M reported declared and paid cash dividends of $0.78 per share in each of the first three quarters of 2026, compared with $0.73 per share in the corresponding quarters of 2025, according to the quarterly filing. These figures document what the company paid in the periods cited, but do not confirm the fourth-quarter dividend announcement mentioned in the draft. The available filing also does not specify a new dividend after those quarters.
3M raised its adjusted earnings-per-share outlook for fiscal 2026 to a range of $9.10 to $9.15, according to its third-quarter earnings release. The available filing did not specify a later date for announcing results or updating the outlook. The company said investing in its businesses to drive organic growth and strong returns on invested capital remains its top capital-allocation priority, while it expects to continue returning cash to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. In trading on November 2, 2026, the company’s stock, ticker MMM, closed at $178.36, according to EL7 data.