W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW) reported a 3% year-over-year drop in October sales. (October this year had one less selling day compared to October 2008.) The company benefited from a 2% positive contribution from the businesses in Japan and India, 1% from the acquisition of Imperial Supplies and 2% from favorable foreign currency translation. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency exchange, Grainger’s daily sales in October were down 8% from last year. The company witnessed a 7% decline in daily sales in the U.S., as demand remained weak across all end markets. These results include sales from Imperial Supplies, which the company acquired in mid-October. Excluding this acquisition, U.S. daily sales were down 8%. In the Canadian (Acklands-Grainger) division, daily sales were up 5% due to favorable foreign exchange. However, the division’s daily sales were down 7% in local currency due to continued weakness in ...

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) reported third-quarter EPS of $1.88 per share. This includes a one-time gain of 37 cents per share from the step-up of its investment in MonotaRO Co. Ltd. after Grainger became a majority owner in September. Excluding the one-time gain, Grainger’s third quarter EPS was $1.51, which was above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.34, but 15% down from last year’s EPS of $1.77. The company has surpassed market expectations for the seventh consecutive quarter. The company posted revenue of $1.6 billion, down 13.6% from $1.8 billion in the third quarter of 2008. GWW is experiencing weak demand as the economic slowdown is driving Grainger’s customers to idle or close facilities and delay purchases. In the United States segment, Grainger witnessed a 14% drop in sales as demand remained weak in all its customer end-markets. After increasing marginally in the second quarter, ...

W.W. Grainger Inc.’s (GWW) sales for the month of August were down 13% compared to last year. This was slightly narrower compared to the 14% decline in July. The company continues to witness weak demand in all its end-markets and geographies. The economic slowdown is driving Grainger’s customers to idle or close facilities and delay purchases, thereby affecting the company’s top-line growth.   Grainger witnessed a 14% decline in U.S. sales, same as in July. Sales were down in all the end-markets. After increasing marginally in the second quarter, sales to the government segment declined in single digits in the first two months of the third quarter, reflecting weakness among state agencies owing to budget cuts.   In the Canadian (Acklands-Grainger) division, sales were down 8%, an improvement compared to the 19% decline in the month of July. Sales were down 5% in local currency due to continued ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 5, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Durect Corp. (DRRX) as the Bull of the Day and Genzyme (GENZ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Caterpillar (CAT), Grainger (GWW) and Texas Instruments (TXN).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We are staying positive on Durect Corp. (DRRX) despite some recent setback and future challenges. Our investment thesis is based on the fact that we believe Remoxy will eventually receive approval in the U.S., and that management will secure another, potentially more lucrative, partnership on TRANSDUR-Sufentanil.

We are also optimistic on Posidur and believe that management will look to secure a partnership in the U.S. and Japan in 2009 or 2010. Finally,

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The summer rally has been based on better-than-expected earnings and signs of green shoots. The bulls claim that both are legitimate reasons for stocks to go higher. But if expectations have really improved, then why aren't earnings estimates higher? It's question worth asking considering what the data is showing us. Top-down projections (those made by market strategists at brokerage firms) call for full-year S&P 500 profits of $54.19 per share. This is the lowest the Zacks Consensus Estimate has been all year. The bottom-up forecast (calculated by weighting the consensus earnings estimates for a firm within the S&P 500) isn't much better. It calls for earnings of $60.43 per share, which is in within the range we've seen since March. (Because of the way it's calculated, the bottom-up estimate tends to be more volatile.) This hardly sounds like the stuff the rallies are made of, ...

Six Dow components are scheduled to report as large-cap stocks dominate the first big week of earnings season. The 6 companies are Bank of America (...

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) reported daily sales decline of 15% and 10%, respectively, for the first two months of 2Q09. The company is experiencing weak demand in all the customer end-markets and geographies. The economic slowdown is driving Grainger's customers to idle or close facilities and delay purchases, thereby affecting the company's top-line growth. The company expects to post lower sales in 2009, compared to the 2008 level.

However, the current economic conditions are not deterring the company from investing in long-term growth. Despite a weakening economy, Grainger continues to concentrate on increasing market share through its market expansion and product-line expansion programs.

In June 2009, the company announced its plans to acquire full ownership of its joint venture in India and to become a 53% majority owner of MonotaRO, a direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies in Japan. Management believes the acquisitions will

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W W Grainger Inc. (GWW) reported first quarter earnings per share of $1.25, excluding items, which topped the reduced consensus estimate of $1.07.

The stock has gained over 2% today on heavier-than-usual volume of approximately 4 million, compared to average volume of about 1.02 million.

Grainger's sales during the quarter declined 12% year-over-year to about $1.5 billion, primarily due to sluggish performances of US and Canadian operations.

"We do not believe that we've seen the bottom to the sales decline and expect increased pricing pressure throughout the remainder of the year," said CEO Jim Ryan.

The full-year consensus estimate on this Zacks #4 Rank ("Sell") stock is down 24 cents over the past 30 days to $4.93 a share.

"GWW" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

Intel Corporation (

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The global pharmaceutical industry is an often-overlooked sector. David Fessler of Investment U shows us one of the biggest players on the market.

He says that, “ while few other sectors can boast recession resilience, the health care sector is proving to be a sector that should be part of everyone’s portfolio…”

This from David:

Several weeks ago, we focused on the distribution side of the health care industry as yet another overlooked area that should continue to do well during our economic downturn.

We discussed one of the largest “Grainger-like” companies in the health care industry, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH). Cardinal is an $87 billion global manufacturer, supplier and distributor of medical products.

Given the sheer size of the medical equipment and drug market - the global pharmaceutical market alone is estimated to be north of $700 billion annually - it shouldn’t be too surprising that Cardinal

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