, Columnist
Meet the Latest Amazon Victim
Pricing pressures at distributor Grainger don't seem as temporary as management would like them to be.
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W.W. Grainger Inc., please take your seat at the Victims of Amazon support group. It's time to accept your membership.
The $12 billion industrial-parts distributor reported dismal earnings (again) on Tuesday, sending its stock down as much as 11 percent for the biggest intra-day decline since August 2015. First-quarter adjusted earnings per share fell well short of estimates, as did sales and gross margins. Grainger also had to walk back 2017 EPS guidance that had already been disappointing when it was announced just five months ago; it now expects to earn $10 to $11.30 a share for the year, a reduction of 10 percent at the midpoint. The culprit? Price cuts Grainger is making to keep up with the Amazon.com Inc.'s of the world.