Bernstein SocGen Group has increased its target price on WW Grainger (NYSE:GWW) to $1,052.00 from $975.00, while leaving the stock at a Market Perform designation. The research firm pointed to Graingers fiscal year 2026 outlook as the central driver behind the adjustment.
Graingers shares have outpaced the broader market, rising 14% year-to-date compared with a 1% gain for the wider index. The stock also jumped about 5% in the wake of the companys recent earnings announcement.
Bernstein highlighted Graingers guidance for fiscal 2026, under which the company expects daily organic sales to grow in the range of 6.5% to 9.0% - a pace the research house noted is comfortably above the consensus outlook of 5.4%.
At the segment level Bernstein flagged two dynamics:
- High-Touch segment: Management provided guidance implying volume growth potential of 1.5% to 5.5%. Bernsteins modeling assumes an acceleration in High-Touch growth to roughly 6.5% to 7.0%, versus reported fiscal 2025 growth of 2.0%.
- Endless Assortment segment: Grainger guided to daily organic growth in the range of 12.5% to 15.0% for this business, a trajectory Bernstein described as broadly consistent with its expectations, accompanied by fiscal 2026 pricing anticipated to be above 3%.
On the companys reported results, Grainger disclosed fourth-quarter 2025 earnings per share of $9.44, narrowly below the consensus EPS estimate of $9.47. Revenue for the quarter was $4.43 billion, slightly topping the forecast of $4.40 billion.
Following the earnings release, Oppenheimer moved its price target for WW Grainger to $1,300 from $1,250 while keeping an Outperform rating. That adjustment came after the firm assessed Graingers results as showing sales roughly in line with expectations and a small earnings beat on the metrics Oppenheimer tracked.
Analysts noted an offsetting dynamic in the quarter: gross margin improvement was largely counterbalanced by higher selling, general and administrative expenses. Those elevated SG&A items included increased healthcare costs, higher payroll, and continued marketing investment, according to the summaries attached to analyst updates.
Taken together, the price target moves and the companys guidance underscore ongoing financial tuning by Grainger and evolving analyst assumptions about near-term top-line momentum and expense trajectories.
Context for markets and sectors
Analyst adjustments and Graingers guidance touch on industrial supply dynamics and have implications for industrial distribution and supply-chain exposed sectors. Margin and SG&A trends are relevant for markets watching cost structure and pricing power in industrial and commercial supply channels.