3M vs Union Pacific
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The short version
- 3M is the larger business, with $24.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $24.5B for Union Pacific.
- Union Pacific kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (40.2% operating margin, against 18.6%).
- Union Pacific turned more of its sales into free cash flow (22.4% FCF margin, against 5.6%).
- 3M earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (34.2%, against 15.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of 3M’s earnings: a P/E of 25.9x against 22.8x for Union Pacific.
| Latest fiscal year | MMM · FY25 | UNP · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $90.7B | $174.1B |
| Revenue | $24.9B | $24.5B |
| Free cash flow | $1.4B | $5.5B |
| Net income | $3.3B | $7.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 1.5% | 1.1% |
| 5-year growth | −5.0% | 4.6% |
| Share count change | −2.0% | −2.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 39.9% | — |
| Operating margin | 18.6% | 40.2% |
| Net margin | 13.0% | 29.1% |
| FCF margin | 5.6% | 22.4% |
| Return on capital | 34.2% | 15.9% |
| Return on equity | 76.1% | 40.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $6.7B | $30.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.1x | 2.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $4.8B | $5.9B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 25.9x | 22.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
MMM $30.1B
UNP $19.9B
FY17
MMM $31.7B
UNP $21.2B
FY18
MMM $32.8B
UNP $22.8B
FY19
MMM $32.1B
UNP $21.7B
FY20
MMM $32.2B
UNP $19.5B
FY21
MMM $35.4B
UNP $21.8B
FY22
MMM $26.2B
UNP $24.9B
FY23
MMM $24.6B
UNP $24.1B
FY24
MMM $24.6B
UNP $24.3B
FY25
MMM $24.9B
UNP $24.5B
MMM
UNP
Operating margin
FY16
MMM 23.3%
UNP 36.3%
FY17
MMM 24.3%
UNP 38.2%
FY18
MMM 22.0%
UNP 37.3%
FY19
MMM 19.2%
UNP 39.4%
FY20
MMM 22.3%
UNP 40.1%
FY21
MMM 20.8%
UNP 42.8%
FY22
MMM 16.7%
UNP 39.9%
FY23
MMM −43.4%
UNP 37.7%
FY24
MMM 19.6%
UNP 40.1%
FY25
MMM 18.6%
UNP 40.2%
MMM
UNP
Free cash flow
FY16
MMM $5.2B
UNP $4.0B
FY17
MMM $4.9B
UNP $4.0B
FY18
MMM $4.9B
UNP $5.2B
FY19
MMM $5.4B
UNP $5.2B
FY20
MMM $6.6B
UNP $5.6B
FY21
MMM $5.9B
UNP $6.1B
FY22
MMM $3.8B
UNP $5.7B
FY23
MMM $5.1B
UNP $4.8B
FY24
MMM $638M
UNP $5.9B
FY25
MMM $1.4B
UNP $5.5B
MMM
UNP
Return on capital
FY16
MMM 25.9%
UNP 13.5%
FY17
MMM 24.7%
UNP 21.9%
FY18
MMM 26.6%
UNP 16.0%
FY19
MMM —
UNP 15.4%
FY20
MMM —
UNP 14.0%
FY21
MMM 22.2%
UNP 16.8%
FY22
MMM 15.3%
UNP 17.4%
FY23
MMM −42.2%
UNP 15.4%
FY24
MMM 36.0%
UNP 15.9%
FY25
MMM 34.2%
UNP 15.9%
MMM
UNP
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.