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W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) last week reported its latest quarterly results, which makes it a good time for investors to dive in and see if the business is performing in line with expectations. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of US$4.4b and statutory earnings per share of US$9.87 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that W.W. Grainger is executing in line with expectations. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.
View our latest analysis for W.W. Grainger
After the latest results, the 18 analysts covering W.W. Grainger are now predicting revenues of US$18.3b in 2025. If met, this would reflect a reasonable 8.0% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to step up 13% to US$42.30. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$18.3b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$41.98 in 2025. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.
The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$1,011, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on W.W. Grainger, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$1,230 and the most bearish at US$660 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.
Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that W.W. Grainger's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 6.3% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 9.5% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 5.4% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while W.W. Grainger's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's expected to grow roughly in line with the industry.