3M (NYSE:MMM) & GBS (NYSE:GBS) Critical Contrast

3M (NYSE:MMM) and GBS (NYSE:GBS) are both multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for 3M and GBS, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
3M	1	9	0	0	1.90
GBS	0	0	0	0	N/A

3M currently has a consensus target price of $113.45, indicating a potential upside of 12.28%. Given 3M’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe 3M is more favorable than GBS.

Profitability

This table compares 3M and GBS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
3M	-4.43%	38.99%	10.79%
GBS	N/A	-85.64%	-54.42%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.2% of 3M shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.8% of GBS shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of 3M shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of GBS shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

3M has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GBS has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares 3M and GBS’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
3M	$33.05 billion	1.69	$5.78 billion	($2.84)	-35.58
GBS	$440,000.00	50.76	-$8.31 million	($0.56)	-2.68

3M has higher revenue and earnings than GBS. 3M is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GBS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

3M beats GBS on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 3M

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Safety and Industrial; Transportation and Electronics; Health Care; and Consumer. The Safety and Industrial segment offers industrial abrasives and finishing for metalworking applications; autobody repair solutions; closure systems for personal hygiene products, masking, and packaging materials; electrical products and materials for construction and maintenance, power distribution, and electrical original equipment manufacturers; structural adhesives and tapes; respiratory, hearing, eye, and fall protection solutions; and natural and color-coated mineral granules for shingles. The Transportation and Electronics segment provides ceramic solutions; attachment tapes, films, sound, and temperature management for transportation vehicles; premium large format graphic films for advertising and fleet signage; light management films and electronics assembly solutions; packaging and interconnection solutions; and reflective signage for highway, and vehicle safety. The Healthcare segment offers health care procedure coding and reimbursement software; skin, wound care, and infection prevention products and solutions; dentistry and orthodontia solutions; and filtration and purification systems. The Consumer segment provides consumer bandages, braces, supports, and consumer respirators; cleaning products for the home; retail abrasives, paint accessories, car care DIY products, picture hanging, and consumer air quality solutions; and stationery products. It offers its products through e-commerce and traditional wholesalers, retailers, jobbers, distributors, and dealers. 3M Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

About GBS

GBS Inc. operates as a biosensor diagnostic technology company in the Asia-Pacific and North America. It offers Saliva Glucose Biosensor, an organic thin-film transistor for diabetes management that measures glucose in saliva. The company also focuses on developing SARS-CoV-2 Biosensor, a biosensor test can be used as a complement to the (RNA) virus detection test; and a biosensor platform comprising of biochemistry, immunology, tumor markers, hormones, and nucleic acid diagnostic modalities. GBS Inc. has a research agreement with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for the development of saliva-based diagnostic tests. The company was formerly known as Glucose Biosensor Systems (Greater China) Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to GBS Inc. in September 2019. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in New York, New York. GBS Inc. is a subsidiary of Life Science Biosensor Diagnostics Pty Ltd.