As 3M's chief executive continues acclimating to his new digs, Bill Brown's eyes still light up at the sight of the 122-year old manufacturer turning out miles of tapes, films and sandpaper.

"There's so much opportunity here," Brown said. "Visiting the labs and the factories, I'm amazed at the products we produce and the scale we produce them at."

He also sees all the ways the Minnesota-based company can keep improving.

"Reducing complexity, lean manufacturing, supply chain management, lowering yield loss," Brown said. The list goes on. But he has some time, if the latest results hold.

3M beat Wall Street estimates for its spring performance as comparable profits rose significantly to an adjusted $1.93 per share. The company's stock jumped 6% in pre-market trading Wednesday morning.

Sales of $6.3 billion were down slightly from last year's second quarter, when accounting for the health care spinoff, but also topped expectations. The quarter's profit came in at $1.1 billion.

"We're starting to see the benefits of restructuring coming through," Brown said, referring to layoffs and a geographic pullback that began more than a year ago.

Now he wants to see more new product launches and a return to sales growth.

The company expects sales to dip slightly or rise up to 2% this year. 3M upgraded the low end of its profit outlook Friday, however, and now expects to bring in $7 to $7.30 per share.

Chief Financial Officer Monish Patolawala, who is leaving at the end of the month, said he's "very, very proud of what this team has done over the last few years to get our priorities right."

"There's a lot more this machine can do," he said.

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