One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$586.56 our estimate vs market $1,277.51
Wall Street consensus: $1,332.57 (127.2% higher than our fair-value estimate)
118% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
W.W. Grainger, Inc.
GWW · NYQ · Industrials · Industrial Distribution
Current price
$1,277.51
52-week range
$906.52 - $1,419.91
Market cap
$60.17B
Balance sheet
Watch
30.80x Strong cushion
Net debt $2.21B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 5.0% last year.
- Reward Returns 46.1% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Risk Stock trades 34.3% above its 5-year average P/E.
What this company does
W.W. Grainger, Inc.
W.W. Grainger acts as a massive supply store for other organizations, selling the essential products like safety equipment, cleaning supplies, and tools that businesses and governments need to operate. The company makes its money by being a reliable source for these crucial items, which are always in demand for day-to-day maintenance, especially in North America where it does most of its business.
How the company got here
W.W. Grainger was started in Chicago in 1927 by William W. Grainger, who wanted to provide a steady supply of electric motors to businesses. [2, 3] The company initially sold its products through an eight-page mail-order catalog called the 'MotorBook,' which was a new idea at the time. [2, 7] Over the decades, it expanded by opening local branches across the country to be closer to its customers. [7] In 1967, Grainger became a public company, selling shares of stock to investors to help fund its growth, and later expanded into Canada and Mexico. [1, 2, 7] More recently, it has focused heavily on e-commerce (selling things online), launching its website in the 1990s and later adding online-only stores. [1, 2]
What it actually does
Grainger is like a giant hardware and supply store, but for businesses, hospitals, and government agencies instead of individual shoppers. [2] It doesn't manufacture most of its own products; instead, it acts as a distributor (a middleman that buys from many manufacturers and sells to many customers). [1, 5] The company sells millions of items that organizations need to keep their buildings and equipment running, known as MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operating) supplies. [3, 6] This includes everything from safety gloves and cleaning supplies to power tools, lighting fixtures, and plumbing parts. [2, 3] Businesses rely on Grainger to get these essential items quickly and reliably so they can avoid shutting down their operations. [1]
High-Touch Solutions North America
This is Grainger's largest and oldest business, making up the vast majority of its revenue (the total money it brings in from sales). [10, 23] It serves larger customers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico that often have complex needs, like factories or large commercial buildings. [1, 23] These customers value a high level of service, so Grainger provides them with dedicated sales representatives, technical support, and help managing their inventory (the supply of products they keep on hand). [1, 14] This 'high-touch' approach helps customers solve problems and ensure they have the right parts when they need them, which they pay for through the price of the products. [1]
Endless Assortment
This is Grainger's newer, faster-growing, and entirely online business. [1, 12] It operates through websites like Zoro in the United States and MonotaRO in Japan, which offer a massive selection of products, much like a huge online marketplace. [1, 18, 22] This segment is designed for customers, often smaller businesses, who prefer to shop for themselves online and are looking for convenience, a wide choice of items, and clear pricing. [1, 22] Instead of personal service, this business competes by having a very broad online catalog and an efficient, easy-to-use website. [1]
What management is betting on now
The company's main focus is to pursue two different strategies at the same time to serve different types of customers. [1] For its large customers, it is investing in its supply chain (the system of warehouses and delivery that gets products to customers) to make sure critical items are always in stock and can be delivered quickly. [1, 26] For its online business, management is focused on rapidly growing its product selection and attracting new customers to its websites. [1, 12] By running both a high-service model and a self-service online model, the company aims to be the go-to supplier for a wider range of business customers. [1, 25]
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$523.00M
FY2024 Q4
$170.00M
FY2025 Q1
$521.00M
FY2025 Q2
$202.00M
FY2025 Q3
$339.00M
FY2025 Q4
$269.00M
FY2026 Q1
$569.00M
FY2026 Q2
$333.00M
Revenue
$5.02B
Net income
$570.00M
Diluted EPS
12.01
Operating cash flow
$444.00M
Free cash flow
$333.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.74B
Net income
$555.00M
Diluted EPS
11.65
Operating cash flow
$739.00M
Free cash flow
$569.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.42B
Net income
$451.00M
Diluted EPS
9.45
Operating cash flow
$395.00M
Free cash flow
$269.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.66B
Net income
$294.00M
Diluted EPS
6.12
Operating cash flow
$597.00M
Free cash flow
$339.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.55B
Net income
$482.00M
Diluted EPS
9.97
Operating cash flow
$377.00M
Free cash flow
$202.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.31B
Net income
$479.00M
Diluted EPS
9.86
Operating cash flow
$646.00M
Free cash flow
$521.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.23B
Net income
$475.00M
Diluted EPS
9.71
Operating cash flow
$428.00M
Free cash flow
$170.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.39B
Net income
$486.00M
Diluted EPS
9.87
Operating cash flow
$611.00M
Free cash flow
$523.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $586.56 vs current price $1,277.51
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $1,332.57 (127.2% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $586.56 a share — about 54.1% below today's price of $1,277.51, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $2.2B. Interest coverage 30.8x.
Net debt
$2.21B
Interest coverage
30.80x
W.W. Grainger, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 30.8 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
GWW
BASELINE
W.W. Grainger, Inc.
Total debt $2.80B Interest coverage 30.80x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $441.50M Interest coverage 267.05x +767% vs GWW Carries about 8.7x more debt cushion than GWW.
Total debt $555.42M Interest coverage 12.99x -58% vs GWW Carries about 2.4x less debt cushion than GWW.
Total debt $483.44M Interest coverage 31.60x +3% vs GWW Has roughly the same debt cushion as GWW.
Total debt $6.71B Interest coverage 3.19x -90% vs GWW Carries about 9.7x less debt cushion than GWW.
Total debt $6.65B Interest coverage 7.43x -76% vs GWW Carries about 4.1x less debt cushion than GWW.
What you should know
The case for and against GWW
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 5.0% last year.
-
Returns 46.1% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 34.3% above its 5-year average P/E.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
32.61x
Forward P/E
25.03x
P/B
14.57x
P/S
3.19x
EV/EBITDA
19.52x
PEG ratio
1.74x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
39.4%
Operating margin
16.1%
Net margin
9.9%
ROE
46.1%
ROA
19.9%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.62x
Current ratio
2.81x
Quick ratio
1.60x
Total debt
$2.80B
Total cash
$589.00M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$18.84B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
8.3%
EPS TTM
39.17
EPS 5Y CAGR
5.6%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$2.17B
Free CF TTM
$1.33B
FCF margin
7.1%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.8%
Payout ratio
23.6%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-10