Sherwin-Williams sales rise 7.9% to $6.86 billion as net income falls

Key Facts

Sherwin-Williams reported before the market opened on October 27 results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, with consolidated sales rising 7.9% year over year to $6.86 billion. But revenue growth did not translate into higher net income, which fell 1.5% to $821 million, while diluted earnings per share rose 0.9% to $3.38. Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased to $3.63 from $3.59 in the year-earlier period, a gain of 1.1%. The figures show a divergence between broader sales growth and lower net income, alongside limited growth in per-share earnings measures. Chief Executive Heidi Petz said the quarter's performance demonstrated "the resilience of our company and the strength of our strategy in a difficult demand environment."

Sales growth extended across all three of the company's groups, but varied among them. Paint Stores Group sales rose 4.7%, Consumer Brands Group sales increased 21.7%, and Performance Coatings Group sales grew 8.8%. The company attributed the consolidated increase to higher sales across all segments, price increases and the inclusion of the impact of its acquisition of Suvinil in October 2025. It said the Suvinil acquisition was the primary driver of sales growth in Consumer Brands Group. These factors mean revenue growth combined higher sales across all three segments with the impact of the acquisition and pricing, while growth rates differed from one group to another.

By contrast, the company said gross profit margin came under pressure during the quarter, attributing this mainly to higher raw material costs and costs related to the supply chain. It added that sales mix also contributed to the pressure, including the impact of Suvinil and stronger growth in lower-margin segments. This explanation is consistent with lower net income despite higher sales, although the available facts did not include a figure for the change in margin. Petz said the results were achieved in a difficult demand environment and that the company continued to win customers and increase its share of their spending. The quarterly results thus combined sales growth across the groups with cost and business-mix pressures on profitability.

In its outlook, Sherwin-Williams kept its estimate for consolidated sales growth in fiscal 2026 at the mid-to-high single-digit level compared with 2025. It expects mid-single-digit year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2025. The company set its full-year diluted earnings per share range at $10.92 to $11.22, and its adjusted diluted earnings per share range at $11.85 to $12.15. On July 28, the company had announced a prior range of $10.92 to $11.32 for diluted earnings per share and $11.80 to $12.20 for adjusted earnings. The update shows the adjusted outlook range narrowed at both ends, while the diluted earnings range retained the same previous upper limit with a lower high end.

The guidance is tied to management's indication that the customer and leading indicators the company tracks do not point to a near-term improvement in demand. Sherwin-Williams said those indicators "point to limited demand for the remainder of the year and into 2027." The company had described demand as showing no meaningful improvement when it reported second-quarter results, with sales up 7.5% to $6.79 billion and diluted earnings per share up 14.3% to $3.43. In the first nine months of 2026, it reported $2.59 billion in operating cash flow. During the same period, it returned $2.98 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

The company announced on October 1 that it would release third-quarter results before the market opened on October 27, and scheduled a call for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the results and its fourth-quarter and full-year outlook. The call puts its annual sales and earnings guidance in context alongside its expectation that limited demand will continue through 2027. The quarterly results show that sales growth did not prevent net income from falling, while per-share earnings measures rose at slower rates. The available facts do not include data establishing the company's share price movement in the October 27 session, so a decline that day cannot be confirmed. The company's guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year remains central to what it announced about the period ahead.