W.W. Grainger Earnings Ahead: What Past Reactions Say About The Stock
W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) is scheduled to report its earnings on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The company has a market value of about $65.0 billion. Over the last twelve months it generated $18.8 billion in revenue and $2.7 billion in operating profit, with net income of $1.9 billion.
How the stock moves after the release will depend on how the results and outlook compare with expectations. What history can offer is the base rate: how often, and how far, the stock has moved after past reports.
See the earnings reaction history of all stocks
The Post-Earnings Record For W.W. Grainger Stock
Some observations on one-day (1D) post-earnings returns, measured from the last close before each release:
- There are 19 earnings releases in the last five years, with 12 positive and 7 negative one-day (1D) returns. Positive 1D returns were seen 63% of the time.
- Over the last three years that share falls to 45%, across 11 releases.
- The median of the 12 positive 1D returns is 4.6%, and the median of the 7 negative ones is -4.9%.
- The largest one-day reactions were 13.0% and -10.3%.
The table below shows the 1D, 5-day (5D) and 21-day (21D) returns after each release, followed by summary statistics.
| Earnings Date | 1D | 5D | 21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/4/2026 | -5.2% | -5.2% | -4.3% |
| 5/7/2026 | -0.03% | 4.3% | 5.9% |
| 2/3/2026 | 5.4% | 8.8% | 5.0% |
| 10/31/2025 | 2.4% | -0.4% | -1.0% |
| 8/1/2025 | -10.3% | -9.3% | -2.3% |
| 5/1/2025 | 2.8% | 1.9% | 6.4% |
| 1/31/2025 | -5.6% | -7.2% | -11.1% |
| 10/31/2024 | 0.9% | 8.7% | 9.8% |
| 8/1/2024 | -3.5% | -2.6% | -0.7% |
| 4/25/2024 | -1.1% | -4.0% | -0.2% |
| 2/2/2024 | 5.4% | 3.0% | 7.3% |
| 10/26/2023 | 3.3% | 9.5% | 20.2% |
| 7/27/2023 | -4.9% | -5.3% | -6.8% |
| 4/27/2023 | 5.5% | 3.6% | 0.2% |
| 2/2/2023 | 13.0% | 11.0% | 16.9% |
| 10/28/2022 | 7.1% | 10.6% | 11.2% |
| 7/29/2022 | 8.3% | 8.3% | 13.2% |
| 4/28/2022 | 3.9% | 1.9% | -3.3% |
| 2/3/2022 | 1.3% | -2.4% | -2.3% |
| Statistic | 1D | 5D | 21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Positive | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| # Negative | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Median Positive | 4.6% | 8.3% | 8.5% |
| Median Negative | -4.9% | -4.6% | -2.3% |
| Max Positive | 13.0% | 11.0% | 20.2% |
| Max Negative | -10.3% | -9.3% | -11.1% |
Do Early Post-Earnings Moves Continue?
Another approach is to wait for the initial reaction and ask whether it tends to continue. The table below shows the correlation between the 1D return and the return over the following 5 and 21 trading days, and between the 5D return and the following 21 trading days. A value near 1 means the first move has tended to continue; near -1, to reverse; near 0, no consistent pattern. None of these correlations is strong enough to trade on: all are below 0.40 in absolute terms over five years, so the early post-earnings move has not reliably predicted what followed.
| History | 1D vs next 5D | 1D vs next 21D | 5D vs next 21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Years | -0.06 | 0.01 | 0.08 |
| 3 Years | 0.00 | -0.15 | -0.33 |
Do Peers That Report First Offer A Clue?
Amphenol stock dropped an average of 18.3% across 15 market shocks since 2007, compared with a 15.8% decline for the S&P 500. A fall of that size from the November 2 close of $79.84 would take the stock to about $65. The table compares each peer’s one-day reaction to its own earnings with W.W. Grainger’s one-day reaction to the report that followed. The correlations are FAST (-0.02), AIT (0.43); the closer to 1, the more the peer’s reaction has foreshadowed W.W. Grainger’s. The AIT figure rests on only the 9 quarters in which it reported first.
| GWW Earnings Date | GWW 1D | FAST 1D | AIT 1D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/4/2026 | -5.2% | -2.8% | n/a |
| 5/7/2026 | -0.03% | -6.9% | 1.1% |
| 2/3/2026 | 5.4% | -2.6% | -6.8% |
| 10/31/2025 | 2.4% | 1.0% | -0.8% |
| 8/1/2025 | -10.3% | 4.2% | n/a |
| 5/1/2025 | 2.8% | 6.4% | n/a |
| 1/31/2025 | -5.6% | 1.8% | 0.9% |
| 10/31/2024 | 0.9% | 9.8% | 3.6% |
| 8/1/2024 | -3.5% | 2.0% | n/a |
| 4/25/2024 | -1.1% | -6.5% | n/a |
| 2/2/2024 | 5.4% | 7.2% | 0.5% |
| 10/26/2023 | 3.3% | 7.5% | n/a |
| 7/27/2023 | -4.9% | -3.5% | n/a |
| 4/27/2023 | 5.5% | -0.4% | n/a |
| 2/2/2023 | 13.0% | -1.6% | 11.4% |
| 10/28/2022 | 7.1% | 2.5% | 3.8% |
| 7/29/2022 | 8.3% | -6.4% | n/a |
| 4/28/2022 | 3.9% | 2.2% | n/a |
| 2/3/2022 | 1.3% | -0.6% | 2.9% |
| Correlation | – | -0.02 | 0.43 |
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