Sherwin-Williams key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Sherwin-Williams had return on equity of 59.4%, a net margin of 10.9%, debt equal to 236.4% of equity and a current ratio of 0.87. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2009Dec 2009 | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMSept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 46.0% | 44.8% | 42.7% | 44.1% | 45.3% | 46.4% | 49.0% | 49.9% | 44.8% | 42.3% | 44.9% | 47.3% | 42.8% | 42.1% | 46.7% | 48.5% | 48.8% | 48.6% |
| Operating margin | — | 12.2% | 11.2% | 13.7% | 14.2% | 15.2% | 17.3% | 18.3% | 14.9% | 14.9% | 15.7% | 18.4% | 15.5% | 15.3% | 18.1% | — | — | — |
| Net margin | 6.1% | 5.9% | 5.0% | 6.6% | 7.4% | 7.8% | 9.3% | 9.6% | 11.5% | 6.3% | 8.6% | 11.1% | 9.3% | 9.1% | 10.4% | 11.6% | 10.9% | 10.7% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 10.8% | 7.5% | 6.6% | 7.7% | 9.0% | 7.9% | 10.7% | 9.0% | 11.1% | 9.7% | 11.1% | 16.9% | 9.4% | 5.8% | 11.4% | 9.0% | 11.3% | 12.4% |
| Return on equity | 29.2% | 29.8% | 28.3% | 38.1% | 42.2% | 62.5% | 113.1% | 82.5% | 62.5% | 30.1% | 39.2% | 52.5% | 61.7% | 72.9% | 70.1% | 69.0% | 59.4% | 62.4% |
| Return on assets | 10.1% | 9.7% | 8.5% | 11.0% | 11.9% | 14.3% | 18.4% | 18.1% | 13.0% | 5.7% | 7.8% | 9.9% | 9.1% | 9.3% | 10.5% | 11.5% | 10.4% | 10.1% |
| Asset turnover | 1.64 | 1.64 | 1.69 | 1.66 | 1.61 | 1.84 | 1.98 | 1.89 | 1.12 | 0.90 | 0.90 | 0.90 | 0.97 | 1.02 | 1.01 | 0.99 | 0.95 | 0.94 |
| Current ratio | 1.27 | 1.07 | 1.05 | 1.68 | 1.25 | 0.96 | 1.24 | 1.28 | 1.11 | 1.01 | 1.02 | 1.00 | 0.88 | 0.99 | 0.83 | 0.79 | 0.87 | 0.71 |
| Debt to equity | 54.8% | 64.9% | 65.5% | 95.1% | 97.0% | 180.5% | 224.7% | 103.9% | 288.4% | 250.5% | 210.6% | 229.6% | 394.5% | 340.7% | 265.1% | 244.1% | 236.4% | 296.6% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | — | 13.4x | 23.2x | 30.5x | 23.0x | 26.4x | 31.8x | 14.0x | 8.5x | 7.1x | 8.0x | 9.9x | 9.2x | 8.7x | 10.0x | — | — | — |
| Effective tax rate | 30.0% | 31.8% | 40.4% | 30.4% | 30.7% | 31.2% | 32.0% | 29.0% | −20.4% | 18.5% | 22.2% | 19.4% | 17.1% | 21.5% | 23.2% | 22.3% | 23.1% | 23.4% |
| R&D as % of revenue | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.3% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 35.7% | 35.1% | 33.8% | 34.2% | 34.0% | 34.3% | 34.3% | 34.9% | 32.0% | 28.7% | 29.5% | 29.8% | 29.5% | 28.6% | 30.6% | 32.1% | 32.6% | 32.4% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 2.9% | 3.9% | 4.6% | 3.4% | 2.4% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 176.2% | 125.7% | 131.7% | 115.8% | 121.9% | 101.7% | 115.1% | 94.4% | 96.1% | 152.7% | 129.3% | 152.9% | 100.4% | 63.1% | 110.2% | 77.7% | 103.3% | 115.0% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 37.3% | 33.8% | 34.7% | 25.5% | 27.2% | 24.9% | 23.7% | 27.6% | 18.5% | 29.1% | 27.3% | 24.0% | 31.5% | 30.6% | 26.1% | 27.0% | 30.7% | 29.3% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 90.2% | 91.5% | 89.5% | 98.3% | 106.2% | 193.4% | 105.9% | 29.2% | 19.2% | 55.3% | 60.2% | 94.5% | 178.3% | 117.7% | 78.1% | 118.2% | 92.2% | 105.9% |
| Quarter | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 | 2026 Q3Sept 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 48.6% | 48.2% | 49.4% | 49.2% | 48.5% | 49.1% | 49.2% | 47.8% |
| Net margin | 9.1% | 9.5% | 12.0% | 13.1% | 8.5% | 9.4% | 12.4% | 12.0% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 12.0% | −4.7% | 14.7% | 17.5% | 15.4% | 0.0% | 18.3% | 14.2% |
| Current ratio | 0.79 | 0.77 | 0.78 | 0.82 | 0.87 | 0.86 | 0.73 | 0.71 |
| Debt to equity | 227.7% | 217.4% | 204.0% | 218.5% | 210.3% | 210.4% | 254.9% | 237.4% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 35.5% | 33.8% | 31.9% | 30.7% | 34.6% | 34.8% | 31.0% | 30.2% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $7.0bn of assets due within a year against $9.8bn of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
- More cash than debt $264m of cash against $9.4bn of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 237% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 385% to 237% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $3.7bn of operating cash flow against $9.4bn of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.
Moat
Strong moat
How hard Sherwin-Williams's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 18 / 20
Cash operating profit has been a median 13.7% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 15 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 45.8%, moving by 2.4 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 15 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 16.7%; its worst year was 14.7%.
- Cash conversion 15 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 10.4% of revenue.
- Discipline 20 / 20
The diluted share count fell 8.5% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.
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