Price Increases Boost Net Sales for Sherwin-Williams

The Sherwin-Williams Company’s decision to raise prices across the board paid off in the first quarter of 2022, even as its primary focus shifted from the do-it-yourselfers who were stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic to the professionals who are trying to regain some of the business they lost.

Sherwin-Williams saw a year-over-year consolidated net sales increase of 7.4%, ending the first three months of 2022 at $5 billion, largely due to price increases in all segments and higher product sales volume in the company’s Performance Coatings Group.

The Consumer Brands Group and Americas Group saw lower sales volume in the quarter, according to the company’s earnings report, based in part on the challenge of accessing some of the necessary raw materials, but those concerns are a thing of the past now, according to the company press release.

Sherwin-Williams’ net sales in U.S. and Canada stores were up 3.8% year-over-year in the quarter, with the Americas Group portion rising because of more professional contractors buying materials this year. The Consumer Brands Group suffered from lower sales outside North America while the Performance Coatings Group was boosted by higher sales in all markets.

“Our team delivered results in line with our expectations in an environment characterized by strong demand, ongoing cost inflation, and choppy raw material availability that improved meaningfully in the final weeks of the quarter,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John G. Morikis said in the company press release.

“Sales grew 7.4% against a double-digit comparison a year ago, and we delivered sequential improvement in consolidated gross margin and segment margins in all of our businesses,” he said. “Our margins remained under pressure on a year over year basis, as significant pricing actions previously announced in all businesses have not yet fully caught up to offset highly elevated raw material costs.”

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