On August 4, W.W. Grainger declined 3.49% in after-hours trading, trading at $1370.0/share, with turnover of $14.95 million.
The selloff came ahead of the company's Q2 earnings report scheduled for August 4 pre-market, with consensus estimates calling for revenue of approximately $49.5 billion and EPS of approximately $11.28. Multiple institutions have recently maintained neutral or bearish stances on the stock. Stephens downgraded its rating from overweight to equalweight, while Barclays maintained an underweight rating with a target price of just $1,166. The current share price trades well above the analyst average target of approximately $1,275, with forward P/E reaching 29.1x.
Although Q1 results significantly beat expectations — posting EPS of $11.65 versus the $10.18 estimate and revenue of $4.742 billion versus the $4.576 billion estimate — the market appears concerned that the current valuation has fully priced in growth prospects, prompting profit-taking ahead of the earnings release.
(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)