Finances

3M Company (MMM) released its third quarter earnings report on Tuesday, October 21. 3M posted better-than-expected sales for the quarter, resulting in shares rising by 1% in premarket trading.

Net sales for the quarter came in at $6.52 billion. This was up 3.5% from $6.29 billion during the same quarter last year and ahead of estimated quarterly sales of $6.25 billion.

“I am very pleased with our teams’ focus on reinvigorating organic top-line growth and improving operational performance resulting in another strong quarter," said 3M CEO, William Brown. “The 3M excellence model helped accelerate organic sales growth, increase margins, grow EPS double-digits and generate robust free cash flow. This progress gives us the confidence to raise our full-year margin and EPS guidance which positions us well to achieve the strategic and financial commitments we made at our Investor Day earlier this year.”

3M posted net income of $834 million or $1.55 per adjusted share for the quarter. Last year at this time, the company posted net income of $1.37 billion or $2.48 per adjusted share.

The company’s Safety and Industrial segment reported sales of $2.92 billion during the quarter, up from $2.77 billion during the same period the prior year. Sales in the Transportation and Electronics segment reached $2.19 billion, up from $2.14 billion one year ago. The Consumer segment posted sales of $1.31 billion, up slightly from $1.30 billion in the year prior. 3M updated its full-year 2025 earnings outlook and expects adjusted earnings in the range of $7.95 to $8.05, differing from its previous forecast ranging from $7.75 to $8.00.

3M Company (MMM) shares ended the week at $153.23, up 10% for the week.

General Motors Reports Quarterly Results

General Motors Company (GM) reported its third quarter earnings on Tuesday, October 21. Despite reporting a decrease in revenue, the automaker’s stock rose more than 15% after GM raised its full-year guidance.

General Motors announced revenue of $48.59 billion for the quarter, down less than 1% from $48.76 billion at the same time last year. Revenue beat analysts’ expectations of $45.27 billion.

“Thanks to the collective efforts of our team, and our compelling vehicle portfolio, GM delivered another very good quarter of earnings and free cash flow,” said General Motors CEO, Mary Barra in a letter to shareholders. “In the U.S., we achieved our highest third-quarter market share since 2017 with strong margins, and our restructured China business was profitable once again. Based on our performance, we are raising our full-year guidance, underscoring our confidence in the company’s trajectory.”

General Motors reported quarterly net income of $1.33 billion or $2.80 per adjusted share. This decreased from $3.06 billion or $2.96 per adjusted share during the same quarter last year.

The automotive manufacturing company’s North America segment saw third quarter revenue decrease to $40.55 billion, down from $41.16 billion year-over-year. General Motors’ International segment reported revenue of $3.65 billion, up from $3.52 billion in the prior year. The company sold 1.56 million vehicles worldwide in the quarter, an increase from 1.48 million vehicles in the same quarter last year. General Motors revised its full-year guidance for fiscal 2025 and expects adjusted earnings between $12.0 billion to $13.0 billion as compared to previous guidance of $10.0 billion to $12.5 billion.

General Motors Company (GM) shares ended the week at $58.54, up 19% for the week.

Netflix Announces Earnings

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) announced its third quarter earnings report on Tuesday, October 21. The subscription streaming company reported earnings that missed expectations, causing stock prices to fall nearly 6% following the release of the report.

Netflix posted quarterly revenue of $11.51 billion. This is up 17% from $9.83 billion in revenue reported at the same time last year and in line with analysts’ expectations.

“We feel good about our progress on our key initiatives,” commented Netflix Co-CEO, Gregory Peters. “We achieved record share of TV time in Q3 in both the U.S. and the U.K. We recorded our best ad sales quarter ever. We are now on track to more than double ad revenue this year. We are continuing to build out both live offerings and games is the emerging capabilities in the live side…So this progress in these areas is indicative of how we think we can best compete and grow the business over the long term.”

For the quarter, Netflix posted net income of $2.55 million or $5.87 per adjusted share. This is up from net income of $2.36 million or $5.40 per adjusted earnings reported at this time last year.

Netflix, which operates in more than 190 countries, reported an increase in revenue across all geographical segments. The company’s United States and Canada segment reported a 17% increase to $5.07 billion for the quarter, and its Europe, Middle East and Africa segment grew 18% to $3.70 billion. Revenue in the Latin America segment rose by 10% to $1.37 billion. Netflix’s operating margin decreased to 28.2% compared to 29.6% during the third quarter of last year, which was attributed to a dispute with Brazilian tax authorities. The company reaffirmed its full-year fiscal 2025 guidance and anticipates revenue of $45.1 billion.

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) shares closed at $1,094.69, down 9% for the week.

The Dow started the week of 10/20 at 46,313 and closed at 47,207 on 10/24. The S&P 500 started the week at 6,690 and ended at 6,792. The NASDAQ started the week at 22,845 and finished at 23,205.

Treasury yields decreased early in the week as the blackout on most federal economic reports left investors to parse the release on existing home sales. Treasury yields trended higher later in the week as investors waited for the rescheduled consumer price index data.

On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their monthly report on sales of existing single-family homes. The report revealed a 1.5% increase in the sales of existing homes, reaching 4.06 million homes in September. This marked the highest level in seven months but came in slightly below analysts’ expectations of 4.1 million sales. On a year-over-year basis, existing home sales increased 4.1%.

"As anticipated, falling mortgage rates are lifting home sales," said chief economist at NAR, Dr. Lawrence Yun. "Improving housing affordability is also contributing to the increase in sales. Many homeowners are financially comfortable, resulting in very few distressed properties and forced sales. Home prices continue to rise in most parts of the country, further contributing to overall household wealth."

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield opened the week of October 20 at 4.01% and traded as low as 3.94% on Wednesday. The 30-year Treasury bond opened the week at 4.61% and traded as low as 4.52% on Wednesday.

On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the cost of dozens of everyday consumer goods, increased 0.3% in September, lower than economists’ forecast of 0.4%. The CPI year-over-year came in at 3.0%, an increase from 2.9% in August. The September CPI was scheduled to be released October 15 but was delayed due to limited government operations. The annual inflation rate was slightly below economists’ projections of 3.1% but is the highest rate since January.

“This report will clearly keep the Fed on track to cut rates,” said chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, Art Hogan. “The Fed has been clear that they are more focused on the softening labor data and will continue to defend their full employment mandate, even with core CPI well above their 2% target.”

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of 10/20 at 4.02%, while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 4.60%.

Freddie Mac released its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey on Thursday, October 23. The survey showed mortgage rates dropping for the third week in a row.

This week, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.19%, down from last week’s average of 6.27%. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.54%.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.44% this week, down from last week’s 5.52%. During the same week last year, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.71%.

“Mortgage rates continued to trend down this week, hitting their lowest level in over a year,” said Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, Sam Khater. “At the start of 2025, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage surpassed 7%, while today it hovers nearly a full percentage point lower. This dynamic has kept refinancings high, accounting for more than half of all mortgage activity for the sixth consecutive week.”

Based on published national averages, the savings rate was 0.40% as of 10/20. The one-year CD averaged 1.68%.

Editor’s Note: The publicly available financial information is offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends. This article is not an endorsement of any company, product or service.