3M CEO Inge Thulin laid out his five-year plan to investors on Thursday, saying the company will broaden its lineup of more than 55,000 products by emphasizing innovation and spending more on R&D.
Analysts applauded Thulin's strategy, which blends the strategies of 3M's two prior CEOs. Ajay Kejriwal, senior research analyst at FBR Capital Markets, told the Star Tribune: "Inge is a 3M insider ... so look for incremental change, not wholesale change, and much more financial discipline, meaning cost controls."
PPR prefers luxury
PPR is a giant French retailer that has been refocusing around its luxury brands. That explains why last week it sold two of its U.S.-based Redcats divisions, South St. Paul-based the Sportsman's Guide and the Golf Warehouse, to Burnsville-based Northern Tool + Equipment.
Analyst J. Baptiste Teissier, who covers PPR for the investment banking firm Natixis, is maintaining a "buy" on the French conglomerate. Teissier favors PPR's new focus on its luxury brands such as Gucci, Yves St. Laurent and Stella McCartney.
PATRICK KENNEDY
