GWW
W.W. Grainger, Inc.
GWW has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
VRT
Vertiv Holdings Co
VRT has the edge over GWW overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
GWW Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy |
GWW's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
VRT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
VRT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
GWW PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 21x | $951 | -37% |
| Fair | 26x | $1,200 | -20% |
| Forward | 29x | $1,503 | — |
| Expensive | 32x | $1,460 | -2.8% |
| Current | 33x | $1,503 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
GWW's PE is in its expensive range at 33x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 29x next year's earnings.
VRT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 23x | $210 | — |
| Current | 39x | $210 | — |
| Cheap | 58x | $308 | +47% |
| Fair | 72x | $383 | +83% |
| Expensive | 88x | $472 | +125% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
VRT has the edge over GWW in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
GWW Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for GWW, with profitability improving.
VRT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for VRT, with profitability improving.
GWW Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $51.08 | +12% |
| Q3 2026 | $45.53 | +28% |
| Q2 2026 | $39.23 | -0.5% |
| Q1 2026 | $37.19 | -4.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $35.40 | -8.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $35.66 | -3.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $39.41 | +8.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $38.95 | +7.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $38.71 | +6.8% |
GWW earned $45.53 per share over the past year, up 28% from the year before.
VRT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.14 | +71% |
| Q3 2026 | $5.35 | +102% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.42 | +111% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.98 | +131% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.41 | +166% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.65 | +75% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.09 | +62% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.72 | +64% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.28 | +7.6% |
VRT has the edge over GWW on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
GWW Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.2B | +11% |
| Q2 2026 | $5B | +10% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.7B | +10% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.4B | +4.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.7B | +6.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.6B | +5.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.3B | +1.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.2B | +5.9% |
GWW's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $5.2B last quarter, up 11% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 16% | +5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 16% | +1.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 17% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -0.6 points |
| Q3 2025 | 11% | -4.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 15% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 16% | -0.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 15% | +1 points |
GWW's operating margin was 16% last quarter, up 5 points from the same quarter a year ago.
VRT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.3B | +61% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.3B | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.6B | +30% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.9B | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.7B | +29% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | +35% |
| Q1 2025 | $2B | +24% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.3B | +26% |
VRT has the edge over GWW on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 23% | +3.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 19% | +2.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 17% | +2.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 20% | +0.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 19% | +1.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 17% | -0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 14% | +1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | +4.2 points |
VRT has the edge over GWW on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
GWW Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $546M | +61% |
| Q2 2026 | $333M | +65% |
| Q1 2026 | $569M | +9.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $269M | +58% |
| Q3 2025 | $339M | -35% |
| Q2 2025 | $202M | -40% |
| Q1 2025 | $521M | -3.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $170M | -64% |
GWW's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $1.7B over the past year, up 39% from the year before.
VRT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $654.9M | +41% |
| Q2 2026 | $926.5M | +233% |
| Q1 2026 | $654.2M | +145% |
| Q4 2025 | $885.6M | +143% |
| Q3 2025 | $463.5M | +36% |
| Q2 2025 | $277.9M | -19% |
| Q1 2025 | $266.8M | +162% |
| Q4 2024 | $364.5M | +18% |
VRT has the edge over GWW on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
GWW Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -100K shares |
| 1 year | -1.7% | -800K shares |
| 3 years | -6% | -3M shares |
| 5 years | -9.6% | -5M shares |
| Available history | -14% | -7.8M shares |
GWW has the edge over VRT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $278M |
| Q2 2026 | $224M |
| Q1 2026 | $237M |
| Q4 2025 | $247M |
| Q3 2025 | $291M |
| Q2 2025 | $226M |
| Q1 2025 | $281M |
| Q4 2024 | $462M |
GWW spent $986M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 22% from the year before.
VRT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -64.9K shares |
| 1 year | +0.4% | +1.8M shares |
| 3 years | +1.1% | +4.4M shares |
| 5 years | +10% | +36M shares |
| Available history | +63% | +152M shares |
VRT has 393M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | $599.9M |
GWW Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.6x | Very low |
GWW's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
VRT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.0x | Healthy |
VRT has the edge over GWW on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
GWW Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 73.0 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 77.5 | Neutral |
GWW's weekly RSI is 73 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 78 (neutral).
VRT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 26.4 | Neutral |
VRT's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 26 (neutral).
GWW PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | GWW | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 33x | 24x | 37% above |
| PE % | 89 | 58 | 31 pts above |
GWW has the edge over VRT on valuation relative to its sector.
VRT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | VRT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 39x | 24x | 63% above |
| PE % | 3 | 58 | 55 pts below |
VRT is trading at 39x earnings, a 63% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
GWW Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $1,349.5 | 11% above |
| 20 week MA | $1,338.2 | 12% above |
| 50 week MA | $1,220.2 | 23% above |
| 100 week MA | $1,117.5 | 34% above |
| 200 week MA | $985.1 | 53% above |
GWW has the edge over VRT on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
VRT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $221.8 | 5.5% below |
| 20 week MA | $254.4 | 18% below |
| 50 week MA | $253.9 | 17% below |
| 100 week MA | $189.1 | 11% above |
| 200 week MA | $123.5 | 70% above |
VRT has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 70% above its 200-week average.
GWW Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $337.5 | $415.6 | +23% |
| 2021 | $415.6 | $503.0 | +21% |
| 2022 | $503.0 | $565.1 | +12% |
| 2023 | $565.1 | $828.7 | +47% |
| 2024 | $828.7 | $1,069.0 | +29% |
| 2025 | $1,069.0 | $1,024.3 | -4.2% |
| 2026 YTD | $1,024.3 | $1,502.6 | +47% |
GWW has the edge over VRT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
VRT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $10.9 | $18.9 | +73% |
| 2021 | $18.9 | $24.9 | +31% |
| 2022 | $24.9 | $12.8 | -48% |
| 2023 | $12.8 | $48.0 | +275% |
| 2024 | $48.0 | $115.1 | +140% |
| 2025 | $115.1 | $167.6 | +46% |
| 2026 YTD | $167.6 | $209.6 | +25% |
VRT's yearly returns have swung widely, from +275% in 2023 to −48% in 2022. It's up 25% so far in 2026.