U.S. industrial conglomerate 3M Co on Wednesday warned of "a slow growth environment" in 2024 as well as flagged weakness in its electronics and consumers segments in the current and next quarters.
This comes a few months after the company had raised its full-year profit forecast in July and beat second-quarter earnings estimates as it was able to offset high raw material and labor costs by hiking prices.
"The consumer has shifted spending from discretionary to staples and other experimental activities," 3M Chief Financial Officer Monish Patolawala said.
3M, which makes electronic displays for smartphones and tablets, is witnessing a significant drop in U.S. retailers' inventories as spending on consumer electronics declined amid stubborn inflation and higher borrowing rates.
Patolawala also said, "China has been slower. We are continuing to see it slower in the third quarter."
(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
