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Sherwin-Williams SHW

Sherwin-Williams scores average on business quality (5.4 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$319.36Oct 9, 2026
Business qualityAverage
Next earningsOct 27, 2026, before the open
Insiders, 90 daysSelling

Why it matters

  1. What Sherwin-Williams does

    Sherwin-Williams manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and related products. It sells directly to professional painters and DIY consumers through its massive branded store network.

  2. What it does best

    Sherwin-Williams dominates architectural paint distribution through a captive store network of thousands of company-operated branches, driving a gross margin of 49% that dwarfs rivals like IFF at 38%.

  3. The main risk

    High debt levels leave little room for error, with total debt of $11.1 billion weighing on a fragile balance sheet that scores a weak 4.4.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityStrong

Operating margin stands at 16.3% and FCF margin is strong, driving an elite ROE of 62.1% that proves scale yields high returns.

MoatStrong

A proprietary retail store network locks in professional contractors, backed by a gross margin in the top decile of its sector at the 90th percentile.

GrowthSlow

Revenue grew 2.1% to $24.4B, showing a sluggish growth pace that lands in the bottom sector half at the 38th percentile.

Financial healthWeak

Debt-to-equity sits at 2.4, backed by interest coverage of 7.7x. Free cash flow reached $3.2B, but heavy debt means the balance sheet is softening.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

2 sold $7.7M outside pre-planned sales.

Our sealed record on SHW

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is SHW a good business?

Sherwin-Williams scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.4 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is strong, moat strong, growth slow and financial health weak.

Are insiders buying SHW?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 2 sold $7.7M outside pre-planned sales.

When does SHW report earnings?

Oct 27, 2026, before the open.

For members

See SHW today

  • Today's verdict on SHW, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Sherwin-Williams (SHW)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/shw/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.