In the summer of August 9, 1976, a company from Minnesota quietly stepped into the big leagues of Wall Street. Known then as Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, or 3M Company (ticker: MMM), it replaced Anaconda Copper in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). That moment said a lot about where the U.S. economy was headed. Out with raw materials. In with innovation.
How 3M Earned Its Spot on the Dow
By the time it joined the Dow Jones, 3M had already stopped being a mining company in everything but name. It had grown into an innovation machine. Scotch™ tape. Post-it® notes. Reflective road signs. Films, adhesives, medical gear — you name it. Revenue had crossed $1 billion, and one-third of its annual sales came from products developed in the last five years. It wasn’t only selling things — it was inventing them.
Replacing Anaconda Copper wasn’t just about numbers. It was announcing a shift. The Dow was moving away from old-school resource extraction and toward companies that were inventing the future. 3M fit that shift perfectly.
Riding a Wave of Inventions
For the next few decades, 3M lived up to the hype. Through the 1980s and ’90s, the company kept churning out successful products and expanding globally. By 2017, annual revenue hit $31.7 billion, and about $35.4 billion in 2021. It had grown into a diversified giant, well within the Fortune 500, with over 90,000 employees and a footprint in nearly every country.
Big deals helped keep it growing. In 2017, it bought Johnson Controls’ Scott Safety unit for $2 billion to beef up its personal protective gear line. And in 2019, it spent $6.7 billion to acquire wound-care firm Acelity/KCI to push deeper into medical products. Each acquisition gave it new tools to stay ahead.
On the stock side, it was a reliable Dow Jones performer. Shares peaked near $165 in early 2018, per Macrotrends data, and investors loved its steady dividend, wide moat, and reputation for innovation.
Cracks Begin to Show
The 2010s weren’t all trouble-free. Even in the DJIA, 3M’s challenges began surfacing by the end of the decade. By this time, 3M started facing a new kind of heat — legal fire.
Two massive legal issues landed at its door: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemical lawsuits linked to water contamination and claims over defective military earplugs filed by U.S. veterans.
The company responded by shaking things up and it spun off its Food Safety business into Neogen in 2022. However, in June 2023, MMM tentatively agreed to a $10.3 billion settlement to resolve U.S. lawsuits over PFAS so-called “forever chemicals.” In August that year, 3M agreed to pay just over $6 billion to settle the veterans’ claims that its Combat Arms earplugs caused hearing loss. 3M even set a deadline of 2025 to cease all PFAS production.
Together, those payout deals dwarf the company’s annual profits and rank among the largest corporate settlements ever. The enormous charges have weighed on profits and shaken investor confidence, even as 3M insists on denying any wrongdoing.
Then in April 2024, 3M officially put its healthcare operation into a new company: Solventum. At the same time, Bill Brown stepped in as CEO, pledging to refocus on core strengths, cut costs, and get the innovation engine roaring again.
Clawing Back Lost Territory
Despite its Dow Jones standing, 3M’s turnaround was far from guaranteed. After a pandemic-driven slump and years of cost pressures, the comeback story began to take shape. In 2024, 3M posted $24.6 billion (flat year-over-year) in revenue with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $7.30 — up 21% from 2023.
It returned $3.8 billion to shareholders via dividends and stock buybacks, a show of confidence after years of turbulence. Q1 2025 saw continued momentum, with earnings beating estimates ($1.88/share vs. $1.77 expected) and operating margins holding above 25% (aided by margins above 23%).
Investors noticed. After sliding to a low of around $75 in the middle of 2023, MMM’s stock rebounded in 2024 to sit at about $128 by year end, per Macrotrends data.
It has continued to rise steadily since then. As of publishing, shares were trading around $155, with a 52-week range between $101 and $159. Wall Street analysts credited the rebound to leaner operations, stronger leadership, and a renewed focus on R&D. The company says it plans to launch 1,000 new products by 2027.
Still in the Dow — But For How Long?
Even with a solid comeback, 3M’s place in the Dow isn’t as safe as it once was. The index has been shifting, leaning into tech and digital services. Giants like Caterpillar, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and IBM, now help define the Dow Jones’ direction.
Meanwhile, 3M — still very much an industrial player — is feeling the squeeze. After spinning off its healthcare unit, its overall revenue base shrank. Market cap isn’t what it used to be — from $140 billion in 2017 to about $84 billion as at the time of writing, with 3M holding 28th place by market capitalization on the Dow Jones component list (per Companiesmarketcap) and 21st by its Dow weight of 2.18% (Slickcharts). Litigation remains a drag on long-term confidence.
The pressures have led some market analysts in recent years to ask the hard question: Is 3M still Dow material? As at time of writing, 3M is still in the DJIA. But the conversations are getting louder. Analysts have floated possible replacements — big-name tech or consumer giants like Alphabet, Meta, or even Starbucks — that better reflect the services-first economy of today.
A Legacy That Transcends an Index
Regardless of what comes next, 3M’s journey in the Dow Jones has already made history. After nearly half a century in the DJIA, it boasts the second-longest tenure of any Dow component (only Procter & Gamble has been in longer). A household name born from a mining business. A company that helped define what industrial innovation looks like in America.
If and when 3M leaves the Dow, it likely won’t be a company failure story so much as a reflection of how the economy has changed. But for now, 3M endures — and it’s fighting to prove it still belongs.
Author: Richardson Chinonyerem
The editorial team at #DisruptionBanking has taken all precautions to ensure that no persons or organizations have been adversely affected or offered any sort of financial advice in this article. This article is most definitely not financial advice.
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