Last Updated: 20 June 2026
The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) is the largest paints and coatings business in the world, built around a company-operated store network that sells directly to professional painters and contractors across North America. In its 2025 fiscal year the company delivered record net sales of $23.57 billion and record adjusted earnings, lifting its dividend for a 47th consecutive year, even as soft do-it-yourself demand and a sluggish new-housing market held back volumes. This report walks through how Sherwin-Williams makes money, what its three operating segments contribute, the strength of its balance sheet and cash generation, where the valuation sits today, and the risks and catalysts investors are watching into the second half of 2026. Explore the price action on our Live Charts and track upcoming releases on the Economic Calendar.
1. Company Snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker / Exchange | SHW (NYSE) |
| Sector / Industry | Materials — Specialty Chemicals (Paints & Coatings) |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| CEO | Heidi G. Petz (Chair, President & CEO) |
| Employees | 64,249 (at 31 December 2025) |
| Market capitalisation | ~$77.3 billion (June 2026) |
| Revenue (FY2025) | $23.57 billion |
| Net income (FY2025) | $2.57 billion |
| Diluted EPS (FY2025) | $10.26 GAAP / $11.43 adjusted |
| Quarterly dividend | $0.80 per share (~$3.20 annualised; 47 consecutive years of increases) |
| 52-week range | $301.58 – $379.65 |
| Next earnings | Q2 2026 results, expected late July 2026 |
2. Bull vs Bear Case
Bull Case
- Unrivalled distribution moat: Sherwin-Williams operates thousands of company-owned stores in the Paint Stores Group that sell directly to professional contractors, a controlled channel competitors cannot easily replicate and the engine of roughly 58% of group sales.
- Pricing power and high margins: Full-year 2025 gross margin reached 48.8%, near record levels, demonstrating the company's ability to push price and manage raw-material costs through the cycle.
- Prodigious cash generation: The company produced $3.45 billion of operating cash flow in 2025 (14.6% of sales) and returned $2.45 billion to shareholders through buybacks and a 47th straight annual dividend increase.
- International and adjacency expansion: The completed Suvinil acquisition adds a leading Brazilian architectural-paint brand, extending the Consumer Brands Group's reach into a large emerging market.
- Operating leverage on recovery: With DIY and new-residential demand still depressed, a housing-market upturn would convert into outsized volume and margin gains given the largely fixed store base.
Bear Case
- Demand softness persists: Core North American DIY demand remained soft through 2025 and Performance Coatings sales were broadly flat, leaving the top line growing only in the low-single digits.
- Housing and construction cyclicality: A large share of revenue is tied to new residential, repaint and commercial construction activity that is sensitive to interest rates and the broader economy.
- Rising leverage from deals: Total debt climbed almost $1 billion in 2025 to about $10.87 billion as the company funded the Suvinil purchase, new headquarters and buybacks.
- Premium valuation: The shares trade around 30 times trailing earnings, a rich multiple that leaves little room for execution missteps if a demand recovery is delayed.
- Input-cost and tariff exposure: Raw-material inflation, energy prices and shifting trade/tariff policy can compress margins faster than price can be recovered.
3. Business Segments
Sherwin-Williams reports through three operating segments. The figures below are full-year 2025 net sales.
| Segment | % of revenue | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Paint Stores Group | 57.7% | Company-operated stores across North America selling Sherwin-Williams branded architectural and protective coatings directly to professional painters, contractors and DIY customers. FY2025 net sales of $13.61 billion. |
| Performance Coatings Group | 28.8% | Industrial and OEM coatings sold worldwide — including packaging, automotive refinish, general industrial, coil and protective & marine coatings. FY2025 net sales of $6.80 billion. |
| Consumer Brands Group | 13.4% | Supplies branded and private-label architectural paint through retailers and other distribution, plus international architectural operations including the newly acquired Suvinil business in Brazil. FY2025 net sales of $3.17 billion. |
A small Administrative line carries unallocated corporate costs. Net sales by segment sum to the consolidated $23.57 billion reported for 2025.
4. How Sherwin-Williams Makes Money
Sherwin-Williams is, at its core, a manufacturer and direct distributor of coatings. It earns the bulk of its profit by formulating paint and selling it through channels it controls, where it captures both the manufacturing and the retail margin.
The professional contractor model. The Paint Stores Group is the heart of the business. Rather than relying mainly on third-party retailers, Sherwin-Williams runs its own stores staffed to serve painting contractors who value consistent product, colour matching, fast availability and credit terms. This direct relationship produces recurring, high-margin revenue and deep switching costs, and it is why the Paint Stores Group generated segment profit of roughly $3.06 billion in 2025.
Industrial coatings and global reach. The Performance Coatings Group sells specialised coatings to manufacturers worldwide — from beverage cans to car repairs to industrial equipment — spreading the company across end-markets and geographies. The Consumer Brands Group rounds out the model by supplying retail shelves and international architectural markets. Across all three, the economics rest on scale purchasing of raw materials, pricing discipline and the operating leverage of a large, mostly fixed store and plant footprint.
5. Financial Health
The five-year record below is drawn from Sherwin-Williams' annual earnings releases and Form 10-K filings. Adjusted EPS excludes Valspar acquisition-related amortisation and certain restructuring and impairment items.
| Fiscal Year | Revenue | YoY % | GAAP EPS | Adjusted EPS | Dividend/share | Long-term debt (YE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $19,944.6m | — | $6.98 | $8.15 | $2.20 | $8,591m |
| 2022 | $22,148.9m | +11.1% | $7.72 | $8.73 | $2.40 | $9,591m |
| 2023 | $23,051.9m | +4.1% | $9.25 | $10.35 | $2.42 | $8,378m |
| 2024 | $23,098.5m | +0.2% | $10.55 | $11.33 | $2.86 | $8,176.8m |
| 2025 | $23,574.3m | +2.1% | $10.26 | $11.43 | $3.16 | $9,320.7m |
Quarterly net sales and earnings are shown below, most recent first, with the bold full-year 2025 total at the foot.
| Quarter | Revenue | Adjusted EPS | GAAP EPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | $5,670m | $2.35 | $2.15 |
| Q4 2025 | $5,595.9m | $2.23 | $1.92 |
| Q3 2025 | $6,360m | $3.59 | $3.35 |
| Q2 2025 | $6,310m | $3.38 | $3.00 |
| Q1 2025 | $5,310m | $2.25 | $2.00 |
| FY2025 total | $23,574.3m | $11.43 | $10.26 |
Net income for 2025 was $2,568.5 million. The company carried cash of $207.2 million against total debt of $10,871.3 million (short-term borrowings $1,200.5m + current portion of long-term debt $350.1m + long-term debt $9,320.7m) at year-end, with shareholders' equity of $4,598.3 million. Operating cash flow of $3.45 billion comfortably covered capital expenditure of $797.6 million and dividends.
6. Valuation
Raw metrics, June 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Market cap | ~$77.3bn (246.4m shares × $313.80) |
| Trailing P/E (GAAP) | ~30x (price $313.80 / TTM GAAP EPS ~$10.42; TTM = Q2–Q4 2025 plus Q1 2026) |
| P/E (forward) | ~27x (price $313.80 / FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance midpoint $11.70, range $11.50–$11.90) |
| P/S (TTM) | ~3.2x (market cap ~$77.3bn / TTM revenue ~$23.9bn) |
| EV/EBITDA (TTM) | ~19.6x (EV ~$88.0bn / FY2025 EBITDA ~$4.48bn; EBITDA = pre-tax income $3,338.2m + interest $465.0m + D&A $676.9m) |
| P/FCF | ~29x (market cap ~$77.3bn / FCF ~$2.65bn; FCF = operating cash flow $3.45bn − capex $0.80bn per FY2025 cash flow statement) |
| Enterprise value | ~$88.0bn (market cap ~$77.3bn + total debt $10.87bn − cash $0.21bn per FY2025 balance sheet) |
| 52-week high | $379.65 |
| 52-week low | $301.58 |
| Short interest (% of float) | ~2.4% (as of 30 April 2026) |
| Days to cover | ~3.4 |
7. Growth Drivers
The clearest structural driver is continued share gains in the professional contractor channel, where Sherwin-Williams' store density and service model let it win business through housing cycles. Management's "Success by Design" strategy targets new store openings, sales-rep additions and productivity gains funded by disciplined capital spending now stepping down toward roughly 2% of sales.
Beyond the core, the Suvinil acquisition and the broader Consumer Brands Group give the company exposure to faster-growing international architectural markets, while Performance Coatings offers leverage to industrial recovery and packaging demand. The biggest cyclical lever remains a recovery in new residential construction and DIY repaint volumes, which have been the principal drag on growth and would translate into meaningful operating leverage across the fixed store and plant base when activity turns.
8. Peer Comparison
| Peer | Market cap (June 2026) | Key 2025 metric |
|---|---|---|
| PPG Industries (PPG) | ~$26.4bn | FY2024 net sales ~$15.8bn; global coatings number-two |
| RPM International (RPM) | ~$14.0bn | FY net sales ~$7.4bn across specialty coatings and sealants |
| AkzoNobel (AKZA) | ~$10bn | FY2025 revenue ~€10.2bn; agreed merger with Axalta |
| Axalta Coating Systems (AXTA) | ~$7.4bn | FY2025 net sales ~$5.2bn; automotive refinish and industrial |
9. Insider Activity
Recent insider activity at Sherwin-Williams consists of routine equity-compensation events and tax-related share withholding rather than open-market buying or selling. There has been no material insider purchase or discretionary sale signalling a directional view. The company is led by Chair, President and CEO Heidi G. Petz. Selected 2026 Form 4 filings are summarised below.
| Name | Date | Type | Shares | Price | Value | Plan Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin T. Binns (EVP) | 17 Feb 2026 | Acquire (PRSU vest) | 9,900 | $368.59 | ~$3.65m | 2023–2025 performance RSU |
| James R. Jaye (SVP) | 17 Feb 2026 | Acquire (PRSU vest) | 2,100 | $368.59 | ~$0.77m | 2023–2025 performance RSU |
| Thomas J. Williams (Director) | 06 Apr 2026 | Acquire (deferred units) | 106.97 | $315.50 | ~$33.7k | Director Deferred Fee Plan |
| Kerrii B. Anderson (Director) | 09 Jan 2026 | Acquire (deferred units) | 28.94 | $345.60 | ~$10.0k | Director Deferred Fee Plan |
| Michael H. Thaman (Director) | 16 Feb 2026 | Grant (RSU) | 558 | $0.00 | — | 2025 Equity & Incentive Plan |
10. Key Risks
- Macro and housing cyclicality: A material share of demand depends on residential construction, repaint and commercial activity that weakens when interest rates are high or the economy slows.
- Raw-material and tariff costs: Prices for resins, pigments, solvents and energy, together with shifting import/export tariffs, can compress margins faster than price increases can offset them.
- Competition: Well-funded rivals including PPG, Behr (Masco), AkzoNobel and Axalta compete on price, distribution and innovation across architectural and industrial coatings.
- Acquisition integration: Integrating Suvinil and other deals carries execution risk and has added debt and interest expense to the balance sheet.
- Lead-pigment and environmental litigation: Sherwin-Williams faces ongoing legal and remediation exposure related to lead pigment and to environmental obligations at current and former sites.
- Foreign-currency and international exposure: Expanding operations in Latin America, Europe and Asia increase sensitivity to currency moves and regional economic conditions.
11. Recent Developments
- 28 Apr 2026 — First-quarter 2026 results. Net sales rose 6.8% to $5.67 billion with adjusted EPS of $2.35; the company reaffirmed full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $11.50 to $11.90 and roughly doubled its targeted restructuring savings to about $105 million amid persistent demand softness.
- 09 Feb 2026 — Credit agreement extended. Sherwin-Williams amended its Citicorp credit facility, extending commitments to December 2030, reinforcing liquidity.
- 20 Jan 2026 — Full-year 2025 results. Record net sales of $23.57 billion and record adjusted EPS of $11.43; the board lifted the quarterly dividend to $0.80 per share, a 47th consecutive annual increase.
- 31 Oct 2025 — Suvinil acquisition completed. The company closed its roughly $1.15 billion purchase of BASF's Brazilian architectural-paints business Suvinil (about $525 million of 2024 sales), adding it to the Consumer Brands Group.
- 01 Jan 2026 — New global headquarters. Sherwin-Williams completed the move into its new headquarters tower in downtown Cleveland, with staff returning to office on a full-time basis in 2026.
12. Key Dates to Watch
- 28 Jul 2026 — Second-quarter 2026 results (approximate; to be confirmed by the company)
- Expected October 2026 — Third-quarter 2026 results
- Expected January 2027 — Full-year and fourth-quarter 2026 results
- Expected September 2026 — Next quarterly dividend declaration and payment
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