With operations spread across 70 countries worldwide, diversified technology firm 3M Company MMM offers dynamic growth opportunities in a broad range of sectors with its flexible product lines. Portfolio management, investment in innovation and business transformation are the three key levers on which the company intends to focus moving forward. 3M also aims to continue investing in capital expenditures and research and development to support organic growth as it aims a capital structure strategy and increased capital deployment.However, given its international presence, adverse foreign currency translations are likely to affect the company’s ability to realize projected growth rates in its sales and earnings. As the extent of competition is increasing over time, investors have been eagerly awaiting for the company’s latest earnings report.Also, 3M has a bumpy earnings surprise history. In the last four trailing quarters, 3M has managed to beat earnings thrice. Currently, 3M has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), but that could definitely change following the first-quarter 2016 earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:Earnings: 3M beats on earnings. The Zacks Consensus Estimate called for EPS of $1.92, and the company reported EPS of $2.05.Revenue: Revenues exceeded. 3M posted revenues of $7,409 million, compared with Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,317 million.Key Stats to Note: 3M continues to take actions to strengthen its portfolio, increase its scientific edge through research and development and transform its business processes through a new global ERP system. With continued restructuring activities, 3M expects to build on its healthy momentum in 2016 and reiterated its earlier guidance for the year. Stock Price: 3M’s shares were inactive following the release. It would be interesting to see how the market reacts to the results during the trading session todayCheck back our full write up on this 3M earnings report later!Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report 3M CO (MMM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research