WW Grainger Inc (GWW)
Fair ValueFundamental
70
Price
$1349.90
Market Cap
$63.83B
Part 1 · What the company is worth
Overview
W.W. Grainger is a broad-line distributor of maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products and services with operations primarily in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The company serves over 4.6 million customers ranging from small businesses to large corporations and government entities across various industries.
How it makes money
Grainger generates revenue through two distinct business models: High-Touch Solutions, which provides value-added MRO solutions and inventory management services to customers with complex needs, and Endless Assortment, an online platform offering millions of products at transparent prices for smaller businesses. The company also earns revenue from private label products and third-party drop shipments.
Revenue by segment
This segment provides value-added MRO solutions rooted in deep product knowledge and customer expertise, primarily serving mid-size and large businesses in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico through sales representatives and automated distribution centers.
This segment operates online channels such as Zoro and MonotaRO, providing a streamlined platform with millions of products for smaller and mid-size businesses in the U.S. and Japan, focusing on transparent pricing and easy procurement.
This category includes businesses that do not meet the criteria for a reportable segment, such as the Cromwell business in the U.K. (sold in Q4 2025) and a captive insurance entity.
Competitive moat
Scale · NarrowGrainger leverages its scale and advantaged supply chain infrastructure, including over 5,000 suppliers and a broad in-stock product offering, to compete effectively. However, the company faces significant competition from manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and online retailers, which limits the durability of its advantage.
What drives demand
Moderately cyclicalDemand for MRO products is sensitive to the production activity and capital spending of Grainger's customers. While some seasonal fluctuations occur, historical seasonality has not been material. Economic downturns or recessions can lead to reduced demand as customers delay purchases or reduce production.
Key risks
- Inflation and Cost Pressures — Inflation in product costs, labor rates, fuel, and energy could cause operating expenses to grow faster than net sales, leading to lower gross margins if Grainger cannot pass these costs on to customers.
- Supply Chain Disruptions — Natural disasters, geopolitical events, labor strikes, or transportation infrastructure issues could disrupt Grainger's logistics network, impairing its ability to meet customer demand and potentially increasing costs.
- Economic Weakness — A slowdown in economic activity or recession could cause customers to delay purchases, reduce production levels, or idle facilities, negatively impacting Grainger's sales growth and results of operations.
- Competition — Grainger faces intense competition from manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and online businesses. Downward pressure on sales prices and an inability to pass higher product costs to customers could reduce gross profit margins.
- Foreign Currency Fluctuations — Grainger is exposed to foreign currency exchange rate risks, primarily related to the Japanese yen, Mexican peso, and Canadian dollar, which can affect reported net sales, costs, and earnings.
Customer concentration
No single end customer accounted for more than 10% of total sales for the year ended December 31, 2025. The company serves a broad base of over 4.6 million customers worldwide.
The case for
Buyers argue that Grainger's dual business model allows it to capture value from both complex, high-touch customers and the growing e-commerce segment. The company's scale, extensive distribution network, and private label offerings provide cost advantages and customer stickiness.
The case against
Sellers fear that Grainger is exposed to macroeconomic cycles and inflationary pressures that could squeeze margins. Additionally, the company faces intense competition from both traditional distributors and agile online retailers, which may limit its pricing power and growth potential.
Generated with artificial intelligence on October 23, 2026, shared with all users
Direct competitors
Who this company fights with for the same customers
Generated with artificial intelligence on September 18, 2026, shared with all users
Fastenal sells the same maintenance, repair and operating supplies to the same North American industrial and construction accounts, winning the business through onsite stores and vending machines where Grainger wins it through branches and its catalog.
Amazon Business courts the same purchasing departments with a vast online assortment and fast delivery, attacking Grainger's e-commerce arms Zoro and MonotaRO head-on and pushing price transparency into the MRO channel.
Through Home Depot Pro and the former HD Supply, it supplies facilities maintenance products to property managers, hospitality, healthcare and government buyers — the same non-industrial customers Grainger serves in its High-Touch Solutions segment.
Its Motion Industries arm distributes bearings, power transmission, hydraulics and industrial supplies to the same plant maintenance budgets Grainger targets across North America.
MSC is the other large US broad-line MRO distributor, overlapping with Grainger on metalworking, cutting tools and plant supplies sold to manufacturers through a mix of catalog, e-commerce and field sales.
This private catalogue and web distributor serves the same engineers and maintenance teams looking for a single source of immediately shipped MRO parts, competing directly on breadth of assortment and next-day availability.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Revenue
$18.84B
Trailing 12 months (through 6/30/2026)
Net Income
$1.87B
Trailing 12 months (through 6/30/2026)
Free Cash Flow
$1.33B
Total Equity
$3.74B
Total Liabilities
$4.82B
Current Ratio
2.81
Interest Coverage
33.89
Debt/EBITDA
0.99
Earnings Per Share
Revenue & Net Income
Free Cash Flow
Income Breakdown
Historical statement
Margins over time
Debt over time
How heavy the debt is
Growth grid
Growth — Revenue
Fair Value Estimation
Fair Value
$1336.31
Current Price
$1349.90
Margin of Safety
-1.0%
Fair Value Range
$1132.32 - $1540.30
Spread across the valuation methods used, not a statistically calibrated confidence interval.
Estimation Methods
Valuation Metrics
P/E Ratio
34.41
ROE
45.7%
P/B Ratio
15.39
P/FCF
42.11
Gross Margin
39.4%
ROIC
29.0%
Profitability Radar
Value Creation (Economic Moat)
ROIC
29.0%
WACC
9.5%
ROIC − WACC
+19.5 pp
ROIC exceeds the cost of capital — the company is creating value for shareholders.
Fundamental Analysis Criteria
Passed (20)
- EPS shows upward trend
- EPS CAGR 11.60%
- Price CAGR 19.07%
- ROIC 29.0%
- Gross margin 39.4%
- Debt/equity ratio
- Operating margin 14.6%
- Positive free cash flow
- Current ratio
- Interest coverage
- Debt/EBITDA
- Return on tangible assets
- Low reliance on intangibles
- ROE 48.7%
- Revenue growth 5Y 8.8%
- Earnings surprise, average 4.6%
- PEG ratio 1.49
- Earnings quality (operating cash flow / net income) 1.16
- Share dilution -2.3%
- Piotroski F-Score 7/9
Failed (6)
- P/FCF 42.11
- P/B ratio 15.39
- CapEx intensity
- Price below Graham Number
- DCF valuation (Overvalued)
- Net margin trend 9.9% vs 11.0%
Unavailable (1)
- Dividend payout –
Piotroski F-Score
Strong financial health
Earnings Quality
High quality: earnings backed by cash
Share Dilution
Buying back shares. Shareholder friendly
Institutional Holdings
Governance
Executive Team
| Name | Title | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Donald G. Macpherson | Chairman & CEO | 57 |
| Ms. Nancy L. Berardinelli-Krantz | Senior VP & Chief Legal Officer | 47 |
| Ms. Melanie J. Tinto | Senior VP & Chief Human Resources Officer | 52 |
| Ms. Paige K. Robbins | Senior VP & President of Grainger Business Unit | 56 |
| Ms. Laurie R. Thomson | Interim CFO, VP, Controller & Principal Accounting Officer | 52 |
| Mr. Jonny LeRoy | Senior VP & CTO | 53 |
| Mr. Kyle Bland | Vice President of Investor Relations | - |
| Mr. Masaya Suzuki | Managing Director of Endless Assortment Business | 50 |
| Mr. Barry Greenhouse | Senior Vice President of Brand, Online Experience & Assortment | 52 |
| Mr. Brian Charles Walker | Senior Vice President of Sales & Onsite Services | 47 |
Audit Risk
4
Board Risk
4
Compensation Risk
5
Shareholder Rights Risk
4
Documents
- View document
Annual Report (10-K)
A yearly overview of the business, its financial results, and the risks it faces.
Filed on 2026-02-19
- View document
Quarterly Report (10-Q)
A snapshot of financial performance for the most recent three-month period.
Filed on 2026-08-04
- View document
Current Report (8-K)
An announcement of a major event, such as a leadership change or big news.
Filed on 2026-08-04
via SEC EDGAR
Income History
via SEC EDGAR
Part 2 · The price and its context
This part shows how the price has behaved, not whether the company is worth owning. Inside: technical analysis, potential, historical drawdowns, gamma exposure.
Market Reaction Profile
How much GWW moves, measured on its daily prices.
More volatile than 12% of the tracked stocks (90-day volatility).
- Volatility 30d
- 17.1%
- Volatility 90d
- 22.1%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (1y)
- 0.50Correlation 0.27
- Max drawdown (12m)
- -13.3%
- ATR (14d, % of price)
- 2.06%
Earnings reactions
How GWW moved around its past quarterly results.
Next earnings release
Nov 4, 2026 · In 11 days · Before the open
EPS estimate: 11.66Revenue estimate: $5.1B
What usually happens
- Over the last 12 releases the stock moved a median of 3.4% the next day, up or down.
- Next-day moves: up 6, down 6 (out of 12).
Release history
| Date | When | EPS est. | EPS actual | Surprise | Gap | 1 day | 5 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026 | Before the open | 11.42 | 12.01 | +5.2% | -6.6% | -5.2% | -5.4% |
| May 7, 2026 | After the close | 10.31 | 11.65 | +13.0% | +0.4% | 0.0% | +4.1% |
| Feb 3, 2026 | Before the open | 9.56 | 9.44 | -1.2% | -0.8% | +5.4% | +8.6% |
| Oct 31, 2025 | Before the open | 10.05 | 10.21 | +1.6% | +1.3% | +2.4% | -0.4% |
| Aug 1, 2025 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -9.9% | -10.3% | -9.3% |
| May 1, 2025 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | +2.1% | +2.8% | +1.9% |
| Jan 31, 2025 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -5.7% | -5.6% | -7.2% |
| Oct 31, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | +2.7% | +0.9% | +8.7% |
| Aug 1, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -3.8% | -3.5% | -2.6% |
| Apr 25, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -2.4% | -1.1% | -4.0% |
| Feb 2, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | +1.1% | +5.4% | +3.0% |
| Oct 26, 2023 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | +4.2% | +3.3% | +9.5% |
Release dates from SEC 8-K filings.
Updated 10/24/2026
Historical statistics for educational purposes only. They are not forecasts and not investment advice.
Price reaction to the news
Latest news on GWW and what the price did next.
Return of the stock minus return of SPY over the same days. A news item close to a price move did not necessarily cause it. Historical data for educational purposes only, not investment advice.
Latest News
Recent headlines for GWW.
- 3/3/2026NEUTRALThe Analyst Verdict: W.W. Grainger In The Eyes Of 5 Experts
W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW) is under analyst scrutiny, with several investment firms recently updating their ratings. Morgan Stanley maintained an "Equal-Weight" rating in February 2022, confirming its prior stance. Oppenheimer, however, reiterated an "Outperform" rating in the same month, suggesting potential upside for the stock. These divergent opinions indicate a divided market on GWW's future performance, necessitating careful consideration by investors before making trading decisions. The analysis is based on a compilation of recent ratings, offering a composite view of expert sentiment.