We're in another quarterly earnings reporting period, with many well-known publicly-traded industrial suppliers posting their latest fiscal performance figures. Here's a roundup of the key numbers posted by 3M, Rockwell Automation, Praxair, Pentair, Ingersoll-Rand and Kimberly-Clark.
3M
St. Paul, MN-based manufacturing conglomerate 3M reported its 2018 second quarter financials on Tuesday. The company posted total Q2 sales of $8.39 billion, up 7.4 percent year-over-year (YoY), with organic sales up 4.5 percent (+5.6 percent in local currency). 3M's total profit of $1.86 billion jumped 17.3 percent. Operating profit of $2.4 billion increased 11.5 percent.
Organic sales increased 4.6 percent in the U.S. (+5.6 percent in local currency).
3M's Q2 Industrial sales of $3.1 billion increased 6.8 percent YoY, with a 5.7 percent gain in organic sales (local currency). The company said sales increased in all businesses, led by separation and purification, advanced materials, abrasives and industrial adhesives and tapes. Sales grew in all geographic areas. Operating profit of $724 million jumped 27.4 percent, with an operating margin of 23.0 percent.
3M's Q2 Safety and Graphics sales of $1.8 billion increased 15.8 percent, with an 8.5 percent gain in organic sales (local currency). Sales increased in all businesses, led by personal safety, commercial solutions and transportation safety. Sales grew in all geographic areas. Operating profit of $480 million was down 43.6 percent as Q2 2017's operating profit included the identity management divestment gain of $457 million. Operating margin was 26.4 percent in Q2.
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation reported its 2018 Q3 financial results on Wednesday. The company posted total Q3 sales of $1.70 billion, up 6.2 percent YoY, with organic sales up 5.7 percent. Total profit of $198.6 million was down from $216.9 million a year earlier, operating profit of $382.9 million increased 14 percent and operating margin of 22.5 percent compared with 21.1 percent a year earlier.
Rockwell's Architecture & Software segment Q3 sales of $795.7 million increased 8.7 percent YoY, with organic sales up 6.7 percent. Operating profit of $239.0 million grew from $204.3 million a year earlier, while operating margin of 30.0 percent increased from 27.9 percent a year earlier.
Rockwell's Control Products & Solutions segment Q3 sales of $903.0 million increased 4.1 percent YoY, with organic sales up 4.9 percent. Operating profit of $143.9 million increased from $132.7 million a year earlier, while operating margin of 15.9 percent grew from 15.3 percent a year earlier.
Praxair
Danbury, CT-based Praxair reported its Q2 earnings on Thursday. The company posted Q2 sales of $3.06 billion, up approximately 8 percent YoY, driven by a 2 percentage point gain from higher pricing and 5 points from volume. North American sales of $1.6 billion increased 6 percent YoY. Q2 total profit of $480 million improved from $406 million of a year earlier.
Pentair
London, England-based Pentair reported its Q2 results on Wednesday. The company posted total Q2 sales of $781 million, up approximately 4 percent YoY, with organic sales up 3 percent. Total profit of $41.5 million compared with $263.7 million of a year earlier, with Q2 2017 including a $200.6 million gain from a divestment.
Q2 sales improved in all three business segments. Aquatic Systems sales of $276.2 million increased 14.9 percent; Filtration Systems sales of $262.2 million increased 4.2 percent; Flow Technologies sales of $241.9 million increased 0.7 percent.
Ingersoll-Rand
Swords, Ireland based Ingersoll-Rand reported its Q2 financials on Wednesday. The company posted Q2 sales of $4.4 million, up approximately 11 percent YoY, with organic sales up 9 percent. Operating profit of $640 million jumped 15 percent.
Ingersoll-Rand's Climate segment had Q2 sales of $3.49 billion, up approximately 11 percent YoY, with organic sales up 9 percent. Ingersoll-Rand's Industrial segment — which includes compressed air and gas systems and services, power tools, material handling systems and fluid management equipment — had Q2 sales of $864 million, up approximately 13 percent YoY, with organic sales up 9 percent.
Kimberly-Clark
Dallas, TX-based Kimberly-Clark reported its Q2 financials on Tuesday. The company posted total sales of $4.6 billion, up approximately 1 percent YoY, with organic sales flat overall and down 2 percent in North America. Q2 total profit of $465 million compared with $540 million of a year earlier, while operating profit of $674 million fell 17 percent YoY.
Kimberly-Clark's K-C Professional segment had Q2 sales of $861 million, up 3.5 percent YoY, while operating profit of $165 million fell $1 million from a year earlier. Sales in North America increased 2 percent, led by volume, as the company said it had growth in all major product categories.
