A protracted slump in artificial intelligence stocks dominated headlines on Tuesday, but one stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was having a stellar session.

Shares of Sherwin-Williams, the maker of paints and coatings, popped after second-quarter earnings climbed past analysts' targets.

The company posted adjusted earnings of $3.70 a share, handily beating calls for $3.52. Sales jumped 7.5% to $6.79 billion, ahead of the $6.6 billion Wall Street had anticipated.

While management cited "no meaningful improvement in demand," the company hiked its full-year outlook. Sherwin-Williams expects net sales to rise by a mid- to high-single-digit percentage, compared with a prior outlook for sales growth in the low- to mid-single-digit percent range.

The company also forecast adjusted earnings in the range of $11.80 to $12.20 a share, up from $11.50 to $11.90 previously. Analysts were looking for $11.76 a share.

Shares jumped 7.9% to $353.19 on Tuesday, leading the blue-chip index higher. The stock has gained nearly 14% over the past three sessions, marking its best stretch since April 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

CEO Heidi Petz emphasized that the company delivered strong results despite persistent macroeconomic uncertainty and a sluggish demand environment. "Our team remains focused on executing our customer-centered strategy while controlling what we can control," Petz said.

Expectations were high heading into the print as a handful of Wall Street firms preemptively raised their price targets. BMO Capital raised its target to $400 from $355 at the start of July and reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares.

In a note previewing second-quarter earnings for the chemicals sector, BMO highlighted the company's broad customer base beyond traditional home paint -- noting expected softness in housing and automotive, offset by strength in electronics and aerospace.

Analysts at BofA Securities raised their price target on the stock to $383 from $369 in mid-July while doubling down on a Neutral rating. The firm said at the time that it was "increasingly bullish" on its specialty chemical coverage and broadly expected second-quarter earnings to be positive.

High mortgage rates and a sluggish housing market have hit Sherwin-Williams on two fronts: slowing construction activity and dampening appetite among do-it-yourself customers. Petz cautioned as recently as April that the company saw little to no recovery in most end markets for the year, given consumer sentiment and "leading indictors" the company monitors.

Given this backdrop, second-quarter results offered a pleasant surprise, coming in better than feared. Citi Research analyst Patrick Cunningham pointed out that net sales had increased in all professional customer end markets, led by a double-digit percentage increase in protective and marine coatings.

The second-quarter beat was driven by "broad-based organic sales growth, " Cunningham noted. For now, proof that the paint giant can keep extracting profits from a stagnant macro environment should be more than enough to satisfy investors.