Grainger posted more than $17 billion in 2024 sales after its fourth quarter revenue climbed by nearly 6%, the company announced Friday.
The suburban Chicago MRO giant — long the top company on ID’s Big 50 — reported nearly $17.2 billion in net sales last year, up 4.2% over the $16.5 billion posted in 2023. The company’s gross profit climbed 4% over 2023 to $6.8 billion, while net earnings attributed to the company rose 4.4% to $1.9 billion.
Full-year gross margin, however, was flat year-over-year at 39.4%, while operating margin was down 20 basis points to $15.4%.
"Amidst a stable, yet muted demand environment throughout 2024, our team delivered strong performance by staying focused on what matters,” Grainger Chairman and CEO D.G. Macpherson said in a statement.
The company’s fourth-quarter sales were up 5.9% compared to the final quarter of 2023. Organic sales rose by 4.7% on a daily average basis after factoring in currency effects and its late 2023 sale of subsidiary E&R Industrial Sales.
Grainger officials said the company’s High-Touch Solutions N.A. division, targeting larger customers, saw a 4% year-over-year quarterly sales increase amid “continued growth across all geographies.” The Endless Assortment segment, meanwhile, saw 15.1% Q4 sales growth thanks to “core B2B customers” and increases in enterprise customers at the MonotaRO business.
Grainger’s initial 2025 forecast projected sales of $17.6 billion to $18.1 billion, which would represent growth of between 2.7% and 5.2%. The company expects gross margin and operating margin, however, to come in between 39.1% and 39.4% and 15.1% and 15.5%, respectively — which would be nearly flat or down compared to last year.
