Monday, January 2, 2012

Seeking Alpha: 3M - Market Ambivalence Provides An Opportunity

As much as it may feel good to see plenty of analysts and investors agree with you, value investors often thrive by buying into skepticism and waiting for market sentiment to shift their way. To that end, I don't mind that many Wall Street analysts seem fairly lukewarm on 3M (NYSE: MMM). Although this conglomerate certainly has some near-term challenges, patient investors should look at this as an opportunity to buy undervalued shares in one of the best-run global giants.

Plenty Of Challenges For 2012
3M shares took a beating in the middle of 2011 as company earnings and guidance disappointed the Street and institutional investors fled in search of better near-term growth stories. To be sure, 3M's prosperity is tied to the health of the overall global economy and 3M tends to be more short-cycle oriented than comparables like Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) or DuPont (NYSE: DD). With investors not especially optimistic on global growth in 2012, it stands to reason that expectations for 3M are not as strong.

Read the full piece here:
3M: Market Ambivalence Provides An Opportunity

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