Fortune partnered with Great Place to Work to analyze survey feedback representing more than 60,000 U.S. employees.

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Employees say:"Grainger actually works and lives by our principles: Start with the customer, embrace curiosity, act with intent, compete with urgency, win as one team, invest in our success and do the right thing. &nbsp;They come together to support one another, even those we've never met. &nbsp;I've loved working for this company for over 16 years and hope to remain with the company throughout my professional career."

Best Large Workplaces in Chicago

With a combined revenue of $21 trillion and $2.1 trillion in profits, the 2026 Fortune 500 is the definitive list of America's largest companies.

Fortune 500

The 300 companies on this year’s list brought in over $12.5 trillion in revenue for the latest 12 months, with the median revenue figure at $24 billion.

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DEI-BRG

Employees say:"Our CEO not only lives our core principles but ensures that we hold strong to those principles no matter the political or economic climate. I have worked for corporate companies prior to Grainger, and the overall feeling of connectiveness to each other, to community, and to self, is one that I had not experienced prior. I feel at home with Grainger."

Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For

The companies on this annual list make a conscious effort to be supportive, inclusive workplaces.

2025 Best Large Workplaces for Women_W.W. Grainger, Inc._US1__68a71dfc383bc91cadd06a7f_6

Employees say:"The team culture is unmatched! Everyone is welcoming, willing to step out of their way to help you, and you can always assume good intent from others. Additionally, our leadership strongly values the differences of its team members—above and beyond anything I've seen from other organizations—by ensuring an open space for them to be themselves at work and celebrate the things that make them unique and special."

100 Best Large Workplaces for Women

Fortune partnered with Great Place to Work to analyze survey feedback representing nearly 62,000 U.S. employees.

Best Workplaces_Chicago_Large_2025-Grainger_US1__67fd6226d94556dd4465c985_2

Employees say:"For me Grainger is an amazing place to work. I can honestly say that both my team and manager care about me, they want to see me succeed at work and my personal life. My team is like an extension of my family. There are so many opportunities for employees here at Grainger—you can move up, move over, or move around to find that position that works best for you. My job/career means a lot to me, and this is where I plan to work until I retire. I tell my friends and family how great it is here and if they are ever looking for a new career/job to come work here because they will also love it as much as I do."

Almost $20 trillion in revenue—and a record-breaking $1.87 trillion in profits. Introducing the 2025 Fortune 500, the definitive list of the biggest companies in America.

The 300 companies on this year’s list brought in over $12.6 trillion in revenue for the latest 12 months, with the median revenue figure at $22 billion.

Leaders in all industries rely more than ever on Big Tech—and appreciate the giants that deliver, at scale, without drama.

Fortune partners with global people analytics firm Great Place to Work to analyze survey feedback representing employees from companies across the U.S.

GPTW-Millennials-Large-2024-Grainger

Employees say:"Our culture is one that is very special and not like other places I've worked. From our opportunities for advancement, a culture of recognition, individual team cultures, the collaborative nature, the focus on DEI, BRG involvement, and volunteer opportunities, it's my home."

100 Best Large Workplaces for Millennials

Industries included in the sector are diversified, electronics, and food and grocery.

Fortune Sector Leaders: Wholesalers

Fortune partnered with Great Place to Work to analyze survey feedback representing nearly 50,000 U.S. employees.

GPTW 2024 Chicago Large-Grainger_US1__20240410151431_3

Employees say: "Everyone here makes you feel like you are family - This is something the other companies "try" to achieve but Grainger makes it happen from the get-go. I am VERY proud and blessed to be working with my Grainger Family."

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100 Best Companies 2024-Grainger

Grainger is the country’s leading distributor of maintenance, repair, and supplies for industries like hardware, lighting, and plumbing. Established in 1927, the company now operates the 11th largest online e-commerce site by revenue. &nbsp;Grainger is building two new distribution centers in the U.S., and is adding 3.5 million square feet to its supply chain network for a more than 35% increase in overall warehouse space. &nbsp;In 2022, the company trained all of its team members in a DEI learning course, focusing on unconscious bias and how it emerges in day-to-day work. It aims to have half of its senior leadership roles filled by women by 2030. Currently, its CEO’s leadership team is 43% women while 29% is racially diverse.&nbsp;

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Building a culture of trust and transparency is essential to help everyone thrive, especially in rocky economic times.

100 BEST COMPANIES 2023-Grainger

This long-standing industrial supply company is adapting to the changing times with an emphasis on diversity. 
<ul> 
 	<li>In the last year, Grainger implemented a technology tool to remove noninclusive language from over 400 job postings; after the revisions went live, the pool of female applicants increased by 15%.</li> 
 	<li>A mandatory e-learning course for leaders tackles unconscious bias, including how it may emerge in day-to-day work and behaviors for managing it.</li> 
 	<li>Senior leadership values transparency, holding monthly calls with all employees to address questions ranging from business operations questions to U.S. Supreme Court decisions to employee compensation.</li> 
 	<li>“Every team member I have encountered during my time at Grainger so far is caring and willing to help each individual succeed,” said one worker. “You are welcomed with open arms, work together as one team, and [colleagues are] willing to help you develop professionally and personally.”</li> 
</ul>

The 300 companies on this list are transforming industries from the inside out.

GPTW Chicago 2023-Grainger

Employees say: 
 
"Grainger does a fantastic job of making sure everybody is able to show up as their true selves. There are multiple BRGs that people can join to feel more connected and informed. Grainger also does a really awesome job of supporting individuals' desires to grow professionally, and offers numerous courses that you can take to grow in your skillset while gaining new knowledge."

GPTW Women 2023-Grainger

Employees say: 
 
"Grainger is the best company I've ever worked for. They go above and beyond to be inclusive to all of our team members. They genuinely seek out feedback from their team members and actually take action on that feedback whenever possible. We're provided more benefits than most other companies and are also paid fairly for the work we do."

Fortune partnered with Great Place to Work to analyze survey feedback representing nearly half a million U.S. employees.

GPTW Millennial Large 2023-Grainger

Employees say: 
 
"Senior leadership invests a lot of time in being transparent about the company’s direction. They strive to foster an inclusive environment, and they genuinely care about the employees. This culture has led to a stronger frontline leadership team. That makes all the difference in wanting to remain with Grainger and knowing it is a great place to work!"

The Fortune 500, in its 69th year in 2023, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.

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When it comes to supporting employees, flexibility, diversity, and a few extra paid days off go a long way.

100-Best-2022-Grainger

This industrial supplies company has appeared on the Best Companies list five times thanks to its emphasis on employee training and its focus on corporate inclusivity. From each team member’s first day, Grainger offers a variety of professional learning opportunities, skills training courses, and leadership programs. Employees spent an average of six hours last year on these supplemental trainings. “I feel that the company never lacks development opportunities,” says one staffer. “It is a main focus of every manager I have worked with so far, having been offered the opportunity to participate in classes and get involved with projects that align to my interests.” Additionally, the company is invested in its diversity efforts, conducting pay equity audits each year and aiming for 50% of its leadership team to be women by 2030.

Winning workplaces in Chicagoland earned high marks from employees when it comes to leadership.

GPTW Chicago Large 2022-Grainger

Employees say: 
 
“They provide tremendous resources that encourage growth and development—leaders want us to succeed. The company authentically celebrates and champions diversity, inclusion, and equality. The company also memorialized a 10-year commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” 
 
Read the Great Place to Work review .

GPTW Women 2022-Grainger

Employees say: 
 
“Grainger is unique in that it celebrates all of its employees, all the way from the CEO to the warehouse team members. Everybody is represented and respected here. The pay is above average, not just for the industry but in general. The benefits offered are excellent and add great value to working here. Grainger values talent and ideas at all levels and in my experience has made great strides in growing based on ideas from Team Members or management. There is a great potential for growth within Grainger and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a career to grow into.”

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 68th running of the list.

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F500-2021-258-W.W. Grainger

Typically selling to other businesses rather than retail, the supply company sells industrial tools and equipment for heavy machinery, plumbing, tools, and other business needs.

For an astounding 13th straight year, Apple claims the top spot in Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation, based on a survey of almost 3,800 executives, directors, and analysts.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 66th running of the list.

F500-2020-278-WW-Grainger

The industrial supply company distributes maintenance, repair, and operating equipment to businesses around the world.

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Wal-Mart stayed on top as its sales crept closer to half-a-trillion dollars. Apple moved into the top five. And UnitedHealth Group continued its steady climb. 

Best Companies

Rank last year

Years on list

U.S. employees

U.S. job openings

Year founded

Benefits

Subsidized childcare

Compressed work weeks

Option to work remotely

Minimum requirement in-office attendance (days per week)

Mental health coverage

Free mental health sessions (per year)

Free backup childcare time off (days)

Maximum $ amount covered for fertility services

Fully paid maternal leave (days)

Fully paid paternal leave (days)

Fully paid adoptive leave (days)

Maternal leave in addition to regular time off (days)

Paid days off for volunteering

Best Workplaces For Women

Industry Vertical

Founded

# Work Sites

Sector

Industry

Current All-Star Rank

Previous All-Star Rank

Industry Rank

Previous Industry Rank

Overall Score

Innovation

People Management

Use of Corporate Assets

Social Responsibility

Quality of Management

Financial Soundness

Long-Term Investment Value

Quality of Products/Services

Global Competitiveness

Strongest Dimension

Previous rank

State

Key Financials (last Fiscal Year)

Revenues ($M)

Profits ($M)

Assets ($M)

Total Stockholder Equity ($M)

Profit Ratios

Profit as % of Revenues

Profits as % of Assets

Profits as % of Stockholder Equity

Earnings Per Share (last Fiscal Year)

Earnings Per Share ($)

EPS % Change (from prior fiscal year)

EPS % Change (5 year annual rate)

EPS % Change (10 year annual rate)

Total Return

Total Return to Investors (last year)

Total Return to Investors (5 year, annualized)

Total Return to Investors (10 year, annualized)

Best Workplaces In Chicago

Sites

Grainger is an industrial-supply distribution company, focused on safety, security, and storage equipment, along with cleaning, metalworking, and hand tools. As of 2025, it offers over 30 million products to some 4.5 million customers worldwide, but its services are primarily in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1927.

Q2 2026

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Q4 2024

W.W. Grainger (GWW): Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings

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W.W. Grainger

w.w. grainger

...Greetings, and welcome to the W.W. Grainger Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. You may be placing the question queue at any time by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero. It's now my pleasure to introduce our host, Kyle Bland, Vice President, Investor Relations. Kyle, please go ahead.

Good morning. Welcome to Grainger's fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call. With me are D.G. Macpherson, Chairman and CEO, and Dee Merriwether, Senior Vice President and CFO. As a reminder, some up our comments today may include forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Additional information regarding factors that could cause actual results to differ materially is included in the company's most recent Form 8-K and other periodic reports filed with the SEC. This morning's call includes non-GAAP financial measures, which reflect certain adjustments in previous periods, as noted in the presentation. There were no adjusting items in the fourth quarter 2025 period. We have also included organic revenue adjustments in the presentation, which normalize sales growth to reflect our exit from the UK market, including the Cromwell divestiture and the closure of Zoro UK.

Definitions and full reconciliations of our non-GAAP financial measures with their corresponding GAAP measures are found in the tables at the end of this presentation and in our earnings release, both of which are available on our IR website. We will also share results related to MonotaRO. Please remember that MonotaRO is a public company and files Japanese GAAP, which differs from U.S. GAAP and is reported in our results one month in arrears. As a result, the numbers discussed will differ from MonotaRO's public statements. Now I'll turn it over to D.G.

Thanks, Kyle. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining. Despite the macroeconomic uncertainty and challenging environment in 2025, the Grainger team continued to execute against our strategy, delivering exceptional service and a best-in-class experience for our customers. During 2025, we made strong progress. We leveraged our technology capabilities and MRO know-how to strengthen our competitive advantage in each segment. We streamlined our portfolio by exiting the UK market. We invested in new supply chain capacity to extend our service leadership. We lived the Grainger Edge each day to foster a workplace environment where team members can build a rewarding career, and we delivered on our financial commitments for the year. Overall, this progress positions us well as we move into 2026.

Before I dive into these 2025 accomplishments in more detail, I thought it would be helpful to reiterate our go-to-market strategy and how each of our operating models addresses the needs of MRO customers, providing a flawless experience and delivering tangible value. This context is important as it drives most of the incremental investment we are making across the business and prioritizes the work our team does every day. Over the last several years, we have invested heavily to build market-leading data and technology capabilities. This includes core product and customer information assets, which have taken on even greater importance as AI accelerates and creates new opportunities to unlock additional value. These data assets underpin our five strategic growth engines and fuel our ability to gain share within our High-Touch Solutions segment. In 2025, we made great progress across these five areas.

In merchandising, we have consistently gained share through this important initiative that's focused on building a highly curated product assortment. This includes continued work across our category review process and expanded use of the Grainger brand name within our private label offer. Our category reviews focus on improving product search, organization, and content, and have more recently had an increasing emphasis on new product introductions, including expansion into new categories. Recent examples include efforts to build out a relevant offer to support data center customers, as well as an expanded breadth of factory automation products such as sensors, machine controls, and actuators. In total, our merchandising efforts in 2025 resulted in net assortment growth of over 85,000 SKUs, our largest net SKU growth for the High-Touch segment in nearly a decade.

In marketing, the team remains focused on delivering strong returns while also finding ways to improve program effectiveness to deliver better outcomes for the dollars we're spending. During 2025, we found new and creative ways to further leverage our advantage information assets to increase personalization and improve our marketing investment strategy. On the latter, we are leveraging our know-how and machine learning to optimize investment at the SKU level based on our knowledge of relative pricing, product availability, and customer lifetime value. The success we continue to see across this space supports further incremental investment in 2026 and beyond. Pivoting to our seller coverage initiative, we continue to leverage our improved customer data to expand our sales force with a focus on underserved business locations.

After slowing our pace and adjusting our approach with this initiative in 2023 and 2024, we added around 110 new sellers across two geographies in 2025. This brings our total program expansion to over 300 sellers across six geographies since 2022, more than 10% increase in our U.S.-based sales team. The collective performance to date of these geographies has been in line with expectations, and we have planned to address two more regions in 2026. Our sellers are crucial to providing value for our customers and generating demand, and we remain committed to investing in tools and resources to increase their effectiveness. In 2025, we saw strong usage of our new Seller Insights platform. As you may recall, this platform integrates with existing Grainger data sources to provide sellers with a one-stop shop for customer insights.

In 2026, we'll leverage AI on this platform to deliver actionable insights, identify new customer contacts, and strengthen leader coaching opportunities. We're just scratching the surface of our potential in this area, and we are excited about the path ahead. Lastly, we continue to see increased demand for value-added services as labor scarcity and cost savings initiatives become customer imperatives. In KeepStock specifically, this has resulted in new customer installations and product category expansions, driving further embeddedness and deeper share of wallet.... Additionally, the KeepStock team made progress over the past year, further developing customer-facing tools, and we anticipate a broader rollout of these new capabilities to begin in 2026. These tools provide customers access to enhanced data and insights aimed at improving their user experience and driving procurement cost savings.

While it's already a critical part of our offer, we expect KeepStock to become even more valuable going forward. We're excited about the progress we've made across these five strategic growth engines and remain confident in our ability to drive share gain as we execute against these important initiatives. Now, given the critical role that technology is playing in our space, I thought it would be helpful to provide a few use cases of how we are leveraging AI and machine learning across the business. While the ramp curves differ by initiatives, as these efforts mature, they can help increase productivity, enhance service, and create revenue opportunities over time. We have broad experience applying AI and machine learning, and when underpinned by our differentiated data assets, we can create tremendous value.

I've already touched on how machine learning is optimizing our marketing investment strategy and how AI is helping us improve seller effectiveness. On the slide, you can see several other areas of the business where these new technologies are fueling advancements. The point here is to show how prevalent these powerful tools have become and to highlight how we can leverage our data assets to create solutions that add real value to our customers or to our bottom line. We've learned a great deal in the past two years about AI and feel well positioned to accelerate these efforts moving forward. Moving to Endless Assortment segment, we made great progress propelling both businesses forward in 2025. At Zoro, the team has regained its growth momentum, focusing on driving improved repeat purchase rates through an enhanced customer experience.

Their progress during the year included optimizing the assortment to improve delivery times, launching Zoro-branded private label products, improving the quality of customer acquisitions to enable better repeat rates, enhancing direct marketing capabilities through better analytics, and improving the customer experience through more accurate delivery communication. These actions helped reaccelerate sales growth back into the high teens for the full year. At MonotaRO, the team continues to execute well, driving strong results, including 25% growth with enterprise customers. They continue to improve and expand their distribution capabilities by extending the reach of same-day shipping to regions beyond Tokyo and Osaka, while also planning for the future with the groundbreaking of the new Mito DC outside Tokyo. Similar to High-Touch, we have also progressed our AI and ML capabilities across both EA businesses.

It's still early innings, but we are using these technologies to drive productivity and accelerate our momentum across the flywheel, and we have included a few examples on the slide. All told, we deliver great results across the Endless Assortment segment in 2025, and are positioned well to continue this momentum into the new year. Turning to slide 9, I'm very pleased with the continued progress we're making across our distribution network as we stay focused on extending our industry-leading ability to deliver next-day complete orders to customers across both segments. Notably, we made meaningful progress on three new facilities across the U.S. and Japan. The Northwest DC, which is located outside of Portland, is set to start full outbound operations later this year. This building will improve our service and reduce transportation costs throughout the Northwest.

We also continue to make great progress with our Houston distribution center and expect inbound operations to begin in the second half of 2027, with outbound following a few quarters later. In Japan, MonotaRO is making great progress on their new highly automated DC in Mito, scheduled to open in 2028. This facility, when complete, will nearly double the shipping capacity that MonotaRO has in the country. Outside of new capacity investments, the supply chain team has also worked hard to leverage inventory and transportation solutions to improve service in certain markets, including Florida and Canada. Overall, we continue to invest across our supply chain to make sure that we maintain and extend our leading position in customer fulfillment. Part of our organization remains our people, who work hard every day to fulfill our purpose to keep the world working.

As you can see on slide 10, our culture was again recognized externally during 2025. We were recertified as a Great Place to Work in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, affirming our commitment to being an employer of choice and a place where every team member feels valued and empowered. We were honored for the first time as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies, named once again as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies, and recognized by Glassdoor as the Best Place to Work. These recognitions are a testament to the culture we've built over almost a century in this industry. Grainger will always be a place where every team member can have a fulfilling, meaningful career if they are willing to work hard to serve our customers.

Now, turning to our full-year financials, 2025 certainly had its share of challenges between shifting tariff dynamics, soft MRO market demand, and the government shutdown. Despite these challenging macro headwinds, we still delivered total company sales growth of 4.5% on a reported basis, or 4.9% on a daily organic constant currency basis, with total sales finishing the year at $17.9 billion. Growth for the year included continued share gain from our High-Touch Solutions U.S. business, which finished the year with roughly 250 basis points of outgrowth on a volume basis. In Endless Assortment, the segment showed significant top-line improvement, with daily organic constant currency sales up 15.6%. Both Zoro and MonotaRO continue to win with their core B2B customer base and drive improved repeat purchase rates, positioning them well for the future.

Alongside the solid top line, the team also did a nice job managing strong margins despite labor headwinds, with operating margin finishing at 15% for the year. We delivered adjusted EPS growth of 1.3%, or $39.48 per share. ROIC finished at 39.1%, and operating cash flow was $2 billion, which allowed us to return $1.5 billion to Grainger shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Overall, I'm proud of what we accomplished in 2025. We continue to focus on improving in core areas of the business to perform well over the long term. With that, I will turn it over to Dee to review our fourth quarter results.

Thanks, D.G. I want to echo D.G.'s sentiment on our 2025 performance. Not only did we make progress on a number of strategic initiatives, but the team was also able to drive top and bottom line results within the original 2025 outlook we provided a year ago. A strong outcome despite the challenging macro environment we faced. ... Now turning to our fourth quarter results. We had another solid quarter to finish the year, with results roughly in line with expectations. For the total company, daily sales grew 4.5% or 4.6% on a daily organic constant currency basis, which included growth in both segments. Sales were healthy in the period, despite softness during the start of the quarter from the government shutdown and the lapping of a prior year hurricane-related sales benefit.

If you were to normalize these events, sales for the total company would have been up approximately 6.5% for the quarter on a daily organic constant currency basis. Total company gross margins for the quarter were strong, ending at 39.5%, down about 10 basis points over the prior year period, driven by segment mix headwinds from faster growing Endless Assortment. Operating margins were down 70 basis points year-over-year due to increased SG&A expense, which came in higher than expected in the period due to unforeseen healthcare costs above our normal run rate and a softer top line in the High-Touch Solutions segment.

Overall, we delivered diluted EPS of $9.44 for the quarter, which was down 2.8% versus the fourth quarter of 2024, but above the midpoint of our implied fourth quarter guide. Moving to segment level results. The High-Touch Solutions segment delivered sales growth of 2.2% on a reported basis, or 2.1% on a daily constant currency basis. Results included nearly three points of price inflation for the segment, showing meaningful sequential improvement as tariff costs continued to be passed. From an end market perspective, our indicators suggest the MRO market gained momentum sequentially, but remained muted in the period. For Grainger specifically, we saw strong performance with contractor and manufacturing customers, which helped to offset slower growth in other areas of the business, including year-over-year softness in the government end market.

If you were to normalize government sales for the impact of the shutdown and the prior year hurricane-related sales benefit, sales for the High-Touch segment would have been up roughly 4.5% for the quarter on a daily constant currency basis. On profitability, gross margin finished the quarter at 42.3%, flat versus the prior year. We continued to see tariff-related inflation, which caused further LIFO inventory valuation headwinds, although the magnitude of these charges came in favorable to our expectations. These charges were offset by positive mix and a number of other smaller tailwinds. Price costs on a LIFO basis remains negative, but improved in the quarter as our pricing actions took hold.

Similar to last quarter, if we excluded the LIFO headwind and we wanted to compare ourselves to our peer set, which report on FIFO, our implied FIFO gross margin rate would have increased year-over-year, with price costs roughly neutral on this basis. On SG&A, margins delivered in the period as payroll and higher than expected healthcare costs, along with continued marketing investment, were only partially offset by productivity. We also saw a softer top line in the period due to the impact of the government shutdown, which further weighed on margins. Taking all this together, operating margin for the segment finished at 15.8%, down 120 basis points versus the prior year quarter. Before moving on, I want to share a brief update on where we are with tariffs.

In the fourth quarter, we remained engaged in active dialogue with our supplier partners and took modest price increases in November to help offset continued cost pressure. These actions were on top of the price increases in May and September, when we began to pass through tariff-related costs. In January of this year, we passed further prices in response to previously delayed tariff inflation and to offset annually negotiated cost increases with our suppliers, which were largely in effect as of February 1st. These actions are net of a partial rollback on certain Chinese tariffs announced at the end of last year. As we look ahead, we've passed the majority of known tariff-related costs to date, but the situation still remains fluid.

Importantly, our team is staying agile, and we remain confident in our ability to adhere to our core tenets to reach price cost neutrality over time while maintaining competitive pricing. Turning to slide 16, we wanted to share an update on our volume outgrowth for the High-Touch U.S. business. When we last spoke about outgrowth in detail, it was during the first quarter of 2025, as we observed a meaningful inflection in the underlying single factor IP benchmark that we use to measure MRO market volume. This inflection was misaligned with what we're seeing on the ground with our MRO customers and likely caused by shifting macroeconomic dynamics. These dynamics are driving bifurcation across industries where tariffs are impacting demand in some industries, while others are experiencing a tailwind, notably those tied to aircraft manufacturing and data center build outs.

As we've been discussing over the past few years, we built a separate market model back in late 2023 after a sustained period of dislocation between what we were hearing from customers and what the single factor model was implying about market volume growth. This multifactor model was developed after testing over 1,000 publicly available economic indicators to find the best combination of explanatory factors with a high correlation to underlying U.S. economic census data for MRO products. Specifically, the model pulls in several different supply and demand factors, including net core capital goods shipments, import-export dynamics, and end user activity, to formulate a comprehensive view of the MRO landscape.

When comparing the two model inputs side by side, while neither model mirrors the exact weight of Grainger's customer end markets, the multifactor model does capture a broader base of end market activities outside of manufacturing, while also eliminating non-MRO product categories. Further, the multifactor model captures a more dynamic view of the economy, relevant trade flows, and shows a stronger correlation to underlying MRO product consumption data. And while the inner workings of the multifactor model are less accessible externally and no model is perfect, the comprehensive nature of the model would suggest it more accurately reflects the performance of our market, specifically in periods of economic disruption or change. With this context in mind, if you turn to slide 17, we charted the historical results for both models, starting with the point at which economic inputs were first published for the multifactor model.

As you can see, the two models are highly correlated, and over this 20+ year period, the average annual growth rate is nearly identical. However, the models do experience disconnects during periods of macroeconomic shifts. Typically, when the multifactor model trails a single factor model or vice versa, it eventually catches up, but the duration of these dislocations is unpredictable. As you see, we've experienced a prolonged period of dislocation since the pandemic, including each model moving in opposite directions after new tariffs were enacted in early 2025. It's unclear to us how long this divergence will last. With this, given its comprehensive nature and the fact that we've studied each model exhaustively over the last couple of years, we are more confident in the demand signals from the multifactor model, and we'll use it to measure our outgrowth progress going forward.

On this basis, turning to slide 18 and using our multifactor MRO model, we estimate that Grainger finished full year 2025 with roughly 250 basis points of outgrowth on a volume basis, as our High-Touch Solutions U.S. business grew volume by 1.4% compared to our multifactor MRO model, which was down between 1.5% and 0.5% for the year. Albeit short of our 400-500 basis point long-term target, we're continuing to take healthy share. Marketing and merchandising remain our largest contributors to outgrowth, and on a go-forward basis, we're anticipating a more consistent impact from seller coverage and seller effectiveness as new geographies ramp and seller tools mature.

Overall, we remain confident in our strategic growth engines and their ability to drive share over the long term and continue to target 400-500 basis points of average annual outgrowth over time. Now, focusing on the Endless Assortment segment. Sales increased 14.3% on a reported basis, or 15.7% on a daily organic constant currency basis, which normalizes for the FX headwinds realized in the period and the closure of our Zoro UK business. Zoro U.S. was up 16%, while MonotaRO achieved 18.4% growth in local days, local constant currency. At a business level, Zoro continues its momentum, driving strong growth from its core B2B customers, along with improving customer retention rates. At MonotaRO, sales remained strong, with continued growth from enterprise customers, coupled with solid acquisition and repeat purchase rates with small and mid-sized businesses.

Additionally, MonotaRO experienced increased web traffic stemming from a competitive cyber outage, which provided a tailwind to sales in the period. On profitability, operating margins increased by 200 basis points to 10.6%, with favorability across the segment. MonotaRO margins remained strong at 13.6%, up 100 basis points, and Zoro margins improved to 6.3% of 260 basis points, with both businesses benefiting from gross margin flow, flow-through and healthy top-line leverage. Overall, we're proud of the exceptional performance throughout 2025 within the Endless Assortment segment and look to continue the momentum this year. Moving into our outlook for 2026. At the total company level, we expect revenue to be between $18.7 billion and $19.1 billion, driven by growth in both segments.

This translates to daily organic constant currency sales between 6.5% and 9%, which is 230 basis points higher than reported sales growth at the midpoint, after adjusting for FX headwinds and the impact of our exit from the UK market. Within our High-Touch Solutions segment, we expect daily constant currency sales growth between 5% and 7.5%.... In the U.S., we anticipate continued demand pressure as tariff-related price increases weigh on market volumes. While we expect industry-specific tailwinds in certain areas of the economy will persist, many of these green shoots are outside of core MRO product categories. With this, while we acknowledge falling interest rates and other macro factors could reverse the multi-year volume contraction in our industry, we're conservatively modeling the market to be down 1.5% to flat.

On share gain, we're assuming outgrowth improves through the year as we ramp investment and gain traction with our growth drivers. We expect this will deliver outgrowth, growth at or below our long-term target range in 2026. Lastly, we expect meaningful price contribution to revenue, which includes the wrap of 2025 actions and incremental price this year to fully catch up on the costs we are seeing from suppliers. This price contribution factors into the partial rollback on certain Chinese tariffs announced in November of last year, but excludes any impact from future unknown tariffs or rollbacks that may or may not occur in 2026. In the Endless Assortment segment, we anticipate daily organic constant currency sales to grow between 12.5% and 15% in the range of their long-term framework.

This segment-level growth will be roughly 230 basis points lower on a reported basis when you normalize for the expected foreign currency exchange headwinds and the closure of our Zoro UK business. At the business unit level, Zoro is anticipated to grow in low teens as they continue their momentum and driving higher repeat rates, consistent service, and improved mid-summer marketing. MonotaRO also expected to grow in the low teens in local days and local currency, which normalizes for one less Japanese selling day in 2026 and expected FX headwinds from the yen. This strong performance is fueled by growth with new and enterprise customers, strong repeat rates with core B2B customers, and a carryover benefit from the competitor cyber outage.

Moving to our margin expectations, we expect total company operating margins to range between 15.4%-15.9%, up 40-90 basis points compared to 2025. This reflects improvements in both segments, as well as a 45 basis points tailwind from our exit of the UK market, split roughly evenly between gross margin and SG&A leverage. In the High-Touch Solutions segment, we expect operating margins between 16.9%-17.4% of 35 basis points at the midpoint. Gross margin will improve as price cost normalizes and LIFO inventory valuation headwinds subside in the back half of the year. This favorability is partially offset by a modest headwind from our private label portfolio, where tariff dynamics have changed competitiveness on certain SKUs.

We expect SG&A leverage to improve as the accelerating top line and our productivity efforts offset ramping investment across our demand generators. In Endless Assortment, we anticipate operating margin will continue to ramp between 10%-10.5% or 20-70 basis points versus 2025. Gross margins are expected to be down slightly at the midpoint, and we expect continued healthy operating leverage improvement in both businesses. Our closure of Zoro UK is also positively contributing to segment-level operating margins. Turning now to capital allocation. Our business is positioned to generate strong cash flow in 2026, with expected operating cash of approximately $2.1 billion-$2.3 billion, reflecting conversion of around 100%. Our capital allocation priorities remain consistent and largely unchanged from prior years.

We'll continue to invest in the business with CapEx in the range of $550 million-$650 million, supporting supply chain initiatives, construction of new facilities in the U.S. and Japan, and ongoing technology and data investments. We'll pursue selective inorganic opportunities while maintaining strategic and price discipline, and beyond investment, we'll, we expect to return excess cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. We'll formally set the 2026 dividend in the second quarter, but again anticipate high single-digit to low double-digit annual increases. Share repurchases related to Grainger common stock are expected to be around $1 billion for the year. Overall, our return-focused philosophy gives us flexibility to invest efficiently while delivering strong returns for our shareholders over the long term.

In summary, at the total company level, we plan to grow top line by 4.2%-6.7% on a reported basis, or 6.5%-9% on a daily organic constant currency basis, which normalizes for FX headwinds and our exit of the UK market. You can see margin improvement through the P&L, which reflects the previously mentioned tailwinds from the UK exit, High-Touch gross margin recovery, and healthy leverage in both segments. These margin benefits will be partially offset by continued segment mix headwinds as Endless Assortment grows faster than High-Touch. We're expecting the effective tax rate in 2026 to be roughly 25%, about 130 basis points unfavorable versus the prior year adjusted rate.

mainly due to the impact of recent federal tax law changes and the lack of one-time tax planning initiatives that won't recur in 2026. Taking all this together, including our share repurchase outlook, we expect EPS of $42.25-$44.75 per share, up over 10% at the midpoint. From a seasonality perspective, we expect year-over-year sales growth to be relatively consistent as we move throughout the year on a daily organic constant currency basis. Growth margin will deviate from its normal seasonality, given LIFO and price cost dynamics as we comp over tariff headwinds in the prior year and reflect the impact of this year's annual Grainger Show meeting. With this, first half gross margins will be at or slightly below our annual guide before rebounding in the back half of the year as the tariff-related impacts subside.

Operating margin will follow a similar trajectory, where the first half is at or below our full year guide before rebounding in the back half of the year. The first quarter is off to a strong start, with preliminary January sales up over 10% on a daily organic constant currency basis. This start supports our expectation for the first quarter sales of around $4.5 billion-$4.6 billion, up north of 7.5% on a daily organic constant currency basis, or roughly 200 basis points lower on a reported basis. First quarter gross margins will remain healthy, but decline sequentially versus the fourth quarter of 2025. This differs from our normal seasonal pattern as we continue to face tariff-related pressures and reflect the impact from the Grainger sales meeting, which flips to a gross margin headwind in 2026.

This gross margin pressure will be offset by sequential leverage improvement, and we anticipate first quarter operating margins will be just north of 15% for the total company. Lastly, as I've consistently done at the end of the past few years, I've included our long-term earnings framework for reference. The only change from the last time I shared this framework is a modest change to our go-forward tax rate assumption to reflect new federal legislation. Importantly, all the core operating tenets of this framework remain intact, intact, and we are well positioned to deliver great results for our shareholders for years to come. With that, I'll turn it back to D.G. for some closing remarks.

Thanks, Dee. Before I open it up for questions, I want to acknowledge our nearly 25,000 Grainger team members who consistently demonstrate our principles and drive strong performance for Grainger. Every day, they show up, start with a customer, and compete with urgency to deliver on our purpose and create an exceptional experience. Looking ahead, I'm excited about how 2026 is shaping up and confident in our ability to extend our advantage for the long term. Regardless of the environment, we will continue to provide a best-in-class MRO offer while investing in the core of our business, an industry-leading distribution network and innovative technology capabilities. By staying focused on what matters most to our customers and creating a great workplace for our team members, we are poised to deliver continued growth, share gain and strong returns for our stakeholders. With that, I will open it up for Q&A.

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you'd like to be placed in the question queue, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing star one. One moment, please, while we pull for questions. Our first question today is coming from David Manthey from Baird. Your line is now live.

Hey, good morning, everyone. My first question is a statement really. 10% growth daily organic constant currency in January looks pretty good. As we're looking at slide 21 and thinking about your guidance for the High-Touch business, it looks like share gain similar to 2025. Pricing is a key delta there at up about 300 basis points. But you also have market growth at minus 1.5% to flat, which is the same backdrop you had in 2025. And given other industry participants and what you're seeing in January, could you just talk about what drives your cautiousness for the year overall?

Yeah. So thanks for the question. So, you know, as we plan, we always start planning relatively conservatively. We try to. There's no advantage in planning for growth that we haven't seen yet. What I would say about January, certainly it was strong across the board, but we did get a bit of a tailwind from the competitive outage in Japan. That adds a little bit to that total as well. But as Dee described, we're pretty confident in sort of that 7.5 number for the year. So we feel like we're off to maybe a little bit better start than we expected, and we may be wrong on the market, but that's always a variable that we have.

Yeah, sounds good. And then, I wonder if you could give us an update on digital channels. A few years ago, you told us, KeepStock was 16%, website 30, and EDI ePro was 25% of order origination. I don't know if you have those offhand or we could take them.

Yeah, sure. So, what I would say is everything, direct connection to customers has, has become more of our share. So actually, EDI ePro is the biggest share we have at this point, closer to 40% at this point. GCOM is still a big part of that, and then KeepStock's grown a little bit as well as a percentage of the total. So, you know, the vast majority of our contract customers now have a combination of ePro and KeepStock on site. And so that's a big part of what we do in terms of creating stickiness and creating value for our customers.

W.W. Grainger (GWW) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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