ST PAUL, Minn. — 3M Co. today reported third-quarter profit of $1.41 billion.

On a per-share basis, the company said it had profit of $2.43.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.27 per share.

The maker of Post-it notes, industrial coatings and ceramics posted revenue of $8.35 billion in the period.

3M shares have dropped almost 6% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen slightly more than 5%. The stock has risen almost 3% in the past 12 months.