Stock Shifting Gears Ahead Of Earnings

3M is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings before the market opens on Tuesday, July 21, with Zacks Research projecting $2.27 per share on $6.38 billion in revenue. That would represent year-over-year growth of 5.1%. Ahead of the release, the industrial company was up 2.6% to trade at $160.45 and helped lift the Dow Jones Industrial Average after announcing a strategic partnership with Microsoft to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation. The stock has been volatile since its Feb. 12 five-year peak of $177.41, but it has rebounded off the 50-day moving average after rejecting around $170. Options pricing implies a 6.6% post-earnings move versus a recent average of 7.2%. Trading sentiment signals elevated put demand, even as call volume surged with 21,000 calls traded so far.