Sales slip as profits surge at Sherwin-Williams

Paint and coatings manufacturer Sherwin-Williams reported that second quarter net sales fell 5.6% to $4.60 billion from second quarter 2019 net sales of $4.88 billion.

Sales in the Americas declined 8.4% to $5.24 billion compared to sales of $2.76 billion during the period.

Same store sales fell 6.9% for the period as strong DIY growth was offset by soft residential and commercial sales. In the company’s Consumer Brands segment, sales picked up 21.8% to $980.2 million in the second quarter driven by DIY demand.

In contrast, Performance Coatings sales dropped 16.5% to $1.1 billion.

Profits jumped for the quarter as Sherwin-Williams posted a second quarter net income of $595.9 million, up 26.5% from a net income of $471 million for the same period a year ago.

Looking ahead, Sherwin-Williams said that it expects consolidated net sales for 2020 to be flat compared to 2019.

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The Bottom Line: A surge in DIY demand isn’t enough to lift sales, but profits climb 26.5% to $569.9 million.

What the CEO said:  “Consolidated net sales improved sequentially in each month of the quarter, led by unprecedented demand for architectural DIY paint in North America,” said John Morikis, Sherwin-Williams chairman and CEO. “While sales were down by a mid-single digit percentage overall, favorable customer and product mix, lower input costs and strong spending controls enabled us to deliver significantly improved performance compared to last year's second quarter.”

Company info: The full second quarter 2020 financial report from Sherwin-Williams can be accessed here.