W. W. Grainger (GWW)
Forward P/E is 27.75x against a peer median of 19.25x, a ratio of 1.44x — above the 1.15 overvalued threshold — with trailing P/E 34.27x and PEG 2.28. The growth exception does not apply: latest-quarter revenue grew 10.3% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), above the cluster median but not far above it, and PEG is well above 1.5. Delivered demand check: the Industrial machinery & components group's median growth was 7.3% year over year — demand steady.
What would change this label: Move to FAIRLY PRICED if the forward P/E compresses to about 22.1x or below (1.15x the peer median) at unchanged estimates, or if revenue growth rises above 20% year over year for two quarters while the PEG falls below 1.5. Move further from fair value if revenue growth falls below 3% year over year while the forward P/E stays above 22.1x.
Grainger sells the everyday supplies businesses need to keep running — tools, safety gear, motors and spare parts. Its shares cost well above what similar companies cost per dollar of expected earnings, and sales grew 10.3% in the latest quarter, only a little faster than its group. That is not enough extra growth to justify the premium, so the shares are overvalued.
Both lines start at 100 on 2020-09-01. Over the full window W. W. Grainger returned +265.45% and the S&P 500 +118.28% (price returns; dividends not reinvested). Worst peak-to-trough fall for W. W. Grainger: -24.8% (2024-11-11 to 2025-11-18). Source: Nasdaq official daily history.
What the label rests on
Forward P/E is 27.75x against a peer median of 19.25x, a ratio of 1.44x — above the 1.15 overvalued threshold — with trailing P/E 34.27x and PEG 2.28. The growth exception does not apply: latest-quarter revenue grew 10.3% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), above the cluster median but not far above it, and PEG is well above 1.5. Delivered demand check: the Industrial machinery & components group's median growth was 7.3% year over year — demand steady. The company’s forward P/E is 27.8× against a peer median of 19.2×. Its own history: UNVERIFIED — no sourced range available. Sector demand read: Delivered demand check: the industrial machinery & components group's median latest-quarter revenue growth was 7.3% year over year (SEC filings) — demand steady; Grainger itself grew 10.3%, above that pace. Latest-quarter sales growth was +10.3% versus a year earlier (SEC filings).
| Company | Price (Oct 28, 2026) | Forward P/E | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| W. W. Grainger (GWW) | $1,342.47 | 27.8× | 34.3× |
| ITW | $274.61 | 22.8× | 24.5× |
| IR | $75.61 | 20.6× | 31.1× |
| OTIS | $72.92 | 16.9× | 18.1× |
| DOV | $208.50 | 18.0× | 24.3× |
| HUBB | $431.26 | 19.2× | 25.3× |
| Peer median | 19.2× |
Multiples: stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026. Peer set chosen by sector; the median is the middle value of the set. The label and its numbers were recorded in the programme’s label registry on Oct 28, 2026 and will be scored at 6 and 12 months.
Sales, profit and cash
Gross margin = gross profit divided by sales, from SEC filings.
Free cash flow = cash from operations minus spending on plant and equipment, both from the company’s SEC cash-flow statement. Gaps are quarters where that spending line is not separately tagged in the filings — shown as gaps, never estimated.
| Quarter | Sales | Gross margin | Net income | EPS (GAAP, diluted) | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q/E Jun 2026 2026-06-30 | $5.0B | 39.5% | $570M | 12.01 | $333M |
| Q/E Mar 2026 2026-03-31 | $4.7B | 40.0% | $555M | 11.65 | $569M |
| Q/E Dec 2025 2025-12-31 | $4.4B | 39.5% | $451M | — | $269M |
| Q/E Sep 2025 2025-09-30 | $4.7B | 38.6% | $294M | 6.12 | $339M |
| Q/E Jun 2025 2025-06-30 | $4.6B | 38.5% | $482M | 9.97 | $202M |
| Q/E Mar 2025 2025-03-31 | $4.3B | 39.7% | $479M | 9.86 | $521M |
| Q/E Dec 2024 2024-12-31 | $4.2B | 39.6% | $475M | — | $170M |
| Q/E Sep 2024 2024-09-30 | $4.4B | 39.2% | $486M | 9.87 | $523M |
| Q/E Jun 2024 2024-06-30 | $4.3B | 39.3% | $470M | 9.51 | $335M |
| Q/E Mar 2024 2024-03-31 | $4.2B | 39.4% | $478M | 9.62 | $542M |
| Q/E Dec 2023 2023-12-31 | $4.0B | 39.1% | $395M | — | $477M |
| Q/E Sep 2023 2023-09-30 | $4.2B | 39.3% | $476M | 9.43 | $398M |
The last twelve reported quarters. Full 24-quarter history sits in the data pack behind this page. A dash means the figure is not tagged as a standalone quarter in the company’s SEC facts (the usual case is the fourth quarter, which many companies only report inside the full-year filing) — it is missing, not zero.
Earnings: getting better or worse?
Each box is one quarter’s earnings per share (EPS). Green means EPS was higher than the same quarter a year earlier; red means lower; a dash means the figure is not tagged in the filings.
Basis: GAAP diluted EPS from SEC company facts, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Key facts
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Company (legal name in filings) | W.W. GRAINGER, INC. |
| Chief executive | D.G. Macpherson (source: https://jobs.grainger.com/Canada/content/CEO-Commitment/?locale=en_US) |
| Sector | Industrials — Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components — sells maintenance, repair and operating supplies, from tools and safety gear to spare parts, to businesses |
| Share price (Oct 28, 2026) | $1,342.47 |
| Market value (market cap) | $63.2B — share price times shares outstanding of 47,100,942 (SEC filings; SEC EDGAR dei EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding (latest)) |
| Sales, last twelve months | $18.8B |
| Net income, last twelve months | $1.9B |
| Free cash flow, last twelve months | $1.5B |
| Latest reported quarter | Q/E Jun 2026 (of 24 quarters in the data pack) |
| Six-year price return vs S&P 500 | +265.45% vs +118.28% |
| Worst peak-to-trough fall | -24.8% (2024-11-11 to 2025-11-18) |
What we could not verify
- TTM GAAP diluted EPS could not be summed from company facts because at least one of the last four quarters (typically Q4) has no standalone tagged EPS; trailing P/E is therefore taken from the labelled secondary source in valuation_label.md.
- Own-history P/E (5-year median): not computed in the Phase 1 batch — UNVERIFIED
- Guidance record (each quarter scored against the guidance the company gave the quarter before) is not yet compiled for this company — it is a Phase 2 layer. The earnings strip below therefore uses reported EPS versus a year earlier, which is fully sourced from filings.
The IT factor — the most exciting thing the market is overlooking — is not assessed on an X-Ray page. It belongs to the Deep Dive (Phase 2), where it gets the evidence standard it needs. Leadership-era scoring (the six years split by chief executive) is likewise a Phase 2 layer; this page names the current chief executive only, from a sourced profile.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR submissions — Filing index; company legal name.
https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000277135.json - SEC EDGAR company facts — Quarterly financial spine: revenue, gross profit, net income, GAAP diluted EPS, operating cash flow, PP&E capex, buybacks, dividends, diluted shares.
https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0000277135.json - Nasdaq official daily history — Daily closes for the company; SPY (assetclass=etf) saved as raw/nasdaq_spy_raw.json over identical dates.
https://api.nasdaq.com/api/quote/GWW/historical?assetclass=stocks - Valuation multiples and peer figures — stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026; see valuation_label.md in the data pack.
Conventions: earliest-filed value per period, as first reported; cash-flow years-to-date differenced quarter by quarter; EPS never differenced; free cash flow = operating cash flow minus plant-and-equipment spending. This page is a dated snapshot — updates are new versions, never silent edits.