Q1 2024 Overall Performance - Total company sales increased by 35% [4, 62] - High-Touch Solutions N A sales increased 34% [35] - Endless Assortment sales increased 37% [8, 78] - Diluted EPS increased 01% to $962 [62, 70, 87] - Operating cash flow increased 456% to $661 million [70] Margin Analysis - Total company gross profit margin declined by 50 bps [4, 62] - High-Touch Solutions N A gross profit margin declined by 70 bps [113] - Endless Assortment gross profit margin declined by 30 bps [8, 78] - Total company operating margin declined by 80 bps [5, 62, 72] Segment Performance Details - Zoro U S daily sales increased by 51% [8, 111] - MonotaRO reported growth of 131% in local days and local currency [8] - High-Touch Solutions U S daily organic sales increased by 40% [35, 113, 121] Guidance - The company reaffirmed the full-year 2024 sales guidance of $172 billion to $177 billion [80] - The company expects full-year 2024 EPS to be between $3800 and $4050 [80]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Total company sales increased by 3.5% or 4.9% on a daily organic constant currency basis, with diluted EPS for the quarter at $9.62, up $0.01 year-over-year [58][61][41] - Operating margins decreased by 80 basis points year-over-year to 15.8%, while gross margins were down 50 basis points [61][41] - ROIC remained strong at 42.9%, and operating cash flow reached record levels, allowing the company to return $316 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases [41][59] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - High-Touch Solutions segment sales grew by 3.4% on a reported basis or 3.8% on a daily organic constant currency basis, with gross profit at 41.8% [44][45] - Endless Assortment segment sales increased by 3.7% or 10% on a daily constant currency basis, with Zoro U.S. up 5.1% and MonotaRO achieving 13.1% growth in local currency [64][65] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The U.S. MRO market grew between 2% and 3%, primarily driven by price inflation, indicating that the High-Touch Solutions U.S. business achieved approximately 150 basis points of market outgrowth [46] - The company expects B2C headwinds to subside as the year progresses, with continued strong growth from B2B customers [47][15] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on maintaining price competitiveness while managing cost increases to achieve price/cost neutrality by the end of the year [24][23] - Continued investment in demand-generating growth engines, including marketing and technology, is prioritized to drive long-term profitable share gain [61][105] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management noted that inflation has been stickier than anticipated, with a revised outlook of 1% to 2% for inflation [23] - The company reiterated its full-year 2024 guidance, expecting daily organic constant currency sales growth between 4% and 7% and EPS ranging from $38 to $40.50 [48][42] Other Important Information - The company announced a 10% increase in its quarterly dividend, marking the 53rd consecutive year of dividend increases [59] - Foreign exchange rate pressures are expected to impact reported net sales guidance, with a potential $140 million headwind due to the yen's depreciation against the dollar [90] Q&A Session Summary Question: Update on pricing actions and gross margin implications - Management indicated that pricing actions are being implemented to correct previous misjudgments, with volume outgrowth remaining strong [69] Question: Insights on the Endless Assortment segment and B2C performance - Management confirmed that MonotaRO has effectively passed on inflation through pricing, and they anticipate positive inflection in B2C performance in the latter half of the year [71] Question: Expectations for SG&A spending and adjustments - Management expressed a commitment to maintaining investment in demand-generating initiatives, with a focus on productivity improvements [126][112] Question: Performance in utility and commercial services verticals - Management acknowledged challenges in the utilities sector but emphasized ongoing initiatives to support growth in mid-sized customers [118] Question: Impact of January weather and holiday timing - Management noted that January weather had a minor impact, while holiday timing resulted in a $10 million impact in March [120]

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) has reported earnings per share of $9.62 in first-quarter 2024, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.58. The bottom line improved 0.1% year over year.Grainger’s quarterly revenues rose 3.5% year over year to $4.24 billion. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.27 billion. Daily sales increased 3.5% from the prior-year quarter. We predicted daily sales to increase 4.2%.The High-Touch Solutions N.A. segment’s daily sales rose 3.4% in the quarter from the first ...

Sales Performance - Q1 2024 sales reached $4.2 billion, up 3.5% YoY, or 4.9% on a daily, organic constant currency basis[3][4] - High-Touch Solutions - N.A. segment daily sales grew 3.4% YoY, while Endless Assortment segment daily sales grew 3.7% YoY (10.0% on a daily, constant currency basis)[7] - Total company reported sales growth for Q1 2024 was 3.5%, with High-Touch Solutions - N.A. at 3.4% and Endless Assortment at 3.7%[38] - Daily, organic constant currency sales growth for Q1 2024 was 4.9% for the total company, 3.8% for High-Touch Solutions - N.A., and 10.0% for Endless Assortment[38] - Foreign currency exchange positively impacted sales growth by 0.9% for the total company and 6.3% for Endless Assortment in Q1 2024[38] Earnings and Profitability - Diluted EPS for Q1 2024 was $9.62, a 0.1% increase compared to Q1 2023[3][4] - Operating margin for Q1 2024 was 15.8%, down 80 basis points YoY[4][5] - Gross profit margin for Q1 2024 was 39.4%, a 50-basis point decline YoY[8] - Net earnings for Q1 2024 were $497 million, compared to $508 million in Q1 2023[27] - Effective tax rate for Q1 2024 was 24.2%, up from 23.3% in Q1 2023 due to decreased stock compensation tax benefit[12] Cash Flow and Capital Allocation - Operating cash flow for Q1 2024 was $661 million, with free cash flow of $542 million after $119 million in capital expenditures[13] - Free cash flow (FCF) for Q1 2024 was $542 million, calculated as $661 million from operating activities minus $119 million in capital expenditures[39] - Net cash provided by operating activities increased to $661 million in Q1 2024 from $454 million in Q1 2023[27] - Capital expenditures for Q1 2024 were $119 million, up from $98 million in Q1 2023[27] - Company returned $360 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in Q1 2024[4][13] - Purchases of treasury stock in Q1 2024 totaled $268 million, compared to $142 million in Q1 2023[27] - Cash dividends paid in Q1 2024 were $105 million, up from $87 million in Q1 2023[27] - Cash and cash equivalents at the end of Q1 2024 were $804 million, compared to $461 million at the end of Q1 2023[27] Guidance and Outlook - Reaffirmed FY 2024 guidance: net sales of $17.2 - $17.7 billion, diluted EPS of $38.00 - $40.50, and operating cash flow of $1.9 - $2.1 billion[14][15] - High-Touch Solutions - N.A. segment operating margin guidance for FY 2024 is 17.4% - 17.9%, while Endless Assortment segment is 7.3% - 7.8%[15]

CHICAGO, April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW) held its annual meeting of shareholders in Lake Forest, Ill., today. Chairman and CEO D.G. Macpherson provided a company update, which included financial and operational highlights from 2023. Shareholders elected the following 13 directors: Rodney C. Adkins Neil S. Novich George S. Davis Beatriz R. Perez Katherine D. Jaspon E. Scott Santi Christopher J. Klein Susan Slavik Williams Stuart L. Levenick Lucas E. Wats ...

CHICAGO, April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW) announced today that its board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $2.05 per share, an increase of 10% from the most recent company dividend. The dividend is payable on June 1, 2024, to shareholders of record on May 13, 2024. In addition, the board approved the repurchase of up to 5 million shares of the company's outstanding common stock, replacing the company's existing repurchase authorization. The new repurchase autho ...

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024  results on Apr 25, before the opening bell.Q1 EstimatesThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for GWW’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $4.28 billion, indicating growth of 4.6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. The consensus mark for earnings per share is pegged at $9.58, implying a dip of 0.3% from the prior-year quarter's reported level.Q4 ResultsIn the last reported quarter, Grainger’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimat ...

The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose 0.4% month over month in March, in line with the consensus estimate. The metric for February was revised upward to a gain of 0.4% over the previous month from an increase of 0.1% reported earlier. Year over year, total industrial production remained unchanged in March.Manufacturing output increased 0.5% in March. The index fell 1.4% for mining and grew 2% for utilities. Capacity utilization increased to 78.4% in March compared with the downwardly ...

For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is W.W. Grainger (GWW) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.W.W. Grainger is a member of the Industrial Products sector. This group includes 222 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. The Zac ...

Food distributor will extend its dividend growth streak to 55 years in the second half of April. Eli Unger This is the latest in my series of articles where I provide predictions of annual dividend increases for long-term dividend growth companies. At the end of March, I provided predictions for 10 dividend growth companies that have historically announced annual payout increases in the first half of April. In this article I’ll look at another 10 dividend growth companies that I expect will announce their ...