News Item: Sherwin-Williams (SHW)
Today, Sherwin-Williams (SHW) raised its earnings expectations for the first quarter of 2006. Analysts had been expecting earnings per share of $0.59 for the first quarter; on January 26th, the company said it expected to earn between $0.56 and $0.61 per share in the first quarter.
Sherwin-Williams now expects the EPS number to be between $0.75 and $0.79. Net sales are projected to grow by 13-14% over sales for the first quarter of 2005. The previous projection had been for sales growth to come in around 10%.
The earnings update is primarily the result of better than expected sales in the company’s paint stores. Expense control has also been better than expected. As a result, SHW’s gross margin will exceed previous estimates.
Sherwin-Williams will report its first quarter earnings on April 20th.
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