WW Grainger

GWW · NYSE

$1,335.96+$17.90 (+1.36%)TodayMarket closed · Oct 20, 7:30 PM ET

Prev close $1,318.06

GWW analyst rating

HoldConsensus of 10 analysts over the last 12 months. 10% rate it a buy.

Strong buy0
Buy1
Hold8
Underperform1
Sell0

12-month price target · 16 analysts

Average $1,350.96 (+1.1% upside)

Low: $1,111.00
Now: $1,335.96
High: $1,575.00

Upgrades and downgrades

The latest rating actions, newest first

GWW analyst upgrades, downgrades and rating actions
Firm	Date	Action	Rating	Price target	Hit rate
RBC Capital	Oct 14, 2026	Maintains	Sector Perform	$1,428.00 → $1,427.00	43%
Barclays	Sep 25, 2026	Maintains	Underweight	$1,185.00 → $1,172.00	62%
Wolfe Research	Sep 15, 2026	Initiates	Peer Perform	—	59%
Morgan Stanley	Aug 24, 2026	Maintains	Equal-Weight	$1,300.00 → $1,400.00	68%
Barclays	Aug 11, 2026	Maintains	Underweight	$1,166.00 → $1,185.00	62%
DA Davidson	Aug 6, 2026	Maintains	Neutral	$1,250.00 → $1,260.00	65%
RBC Capital	Aug 5, 2026	Maintains	Sector Perform	$1,460.00 → $1,428.00	57%
Oppenheimer	Aug 5, 2026	Maintains	Outperform	$1,350.00 → $1,375.00	68%
RBC Capital	Jul 16, 2026	Maintains	Sector Perform	$1,337.00 → $1,460.00	57%
Stephens & Co.	Jul 14, 2026	Downgrade	Overweight → Equal-Weight	$1,355.00	72%

The case for and against

Updated Oct 18, 2026

Bull case

W.W. Grainger is attractive because its dominant scale, broad MRO assortment, and digital capabilities support durable share gains in a fragmented market while making it the preferred supplier for large enterprise and mid-market customers. Its high-touch and endless assortment segments complement each other, with MonotaRO and Zoro providing economical access to smaller buyers and MonotaRO showing strong growth, including +24% organic daily sales in 1Q26, 13.6% EBIT margin in 4Q25, and 12.9% in 1Q26. The outlook is further strengthened by recurring, nondiscretionary demand, strong free cash flow conversion of about 80% at the CY26 midpoint, and the ability to use scale to defend margins and outperform during industrial upcycles and inflationary periods.

Bear case

W.W. Grainger is facing a less compelling earnings setup than the market appeared to expect, as CY26 adjusted EPS guidance was lifted only $1.13 at the midpoint, or just 1% excluding IEEPA tariff refund benefits, even though U.S. volumes improved. The outlook still depends on an aggressive sales range of $19.4B-$19.7B and 8.4%-10.0% growth, but that includes a U.K. divestiture headwind of about 2% and a roughly 1% FX drag, which tempers the quality of the growth. At the same time, margin and operating leverage remain vulnerable to industrial slowdowns, competitive pricing, product mix pressure, and rising freight, labor, technology, and distribution costs, especially if higher SG&A investment is needed to defend share.

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