Neither stock can be called the better buy from operating results alone. In the latest comparable quarter (ended June 30, 2026), Sherwin-Williams produced faster adjusted earnings growth and raised its full-year outlook, while PPG delivered healthy organic growth but nearly flat adjusted earnings and uneven segment margins. The deciding factor is valuation at the same market date, which must be added before making a stock-level call.
On business performance, Sherwin-Williams currently has the stronger earnings momentum. PPG may suit investors who prefer broader international and industrial exposure, but its 2026 case depends on margin recovery and continued volume growth. Both companies face demand softness, inflation and cyclical end markets.
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Latest comparable quarter: Sherwin-Williams led on earnings growth
The companies reported second-quarter 2026 results for the period ended June 30. Their adjusted measures are non-GAAP figures, and each company defines adjustments differently, so the percentages below are useful indicators rather than perfectly standardized accounting comparisons.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match| Metric (Q2 2026) | Sherwin-Williams | PPG |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $6.789 billion, up 7.5% year over year | $4.495 billion, up 7% |
| Organic sales growth | Not stated on a consolidated basis in the cited release | 4%; price +2% and volume +2% |
| Adjusted diluted EPS | $3.70, up 9.5% | $2.23 versus $2.22, essentially flat |
| GAAP diluted EPS | $3.43, up 14.3% | Not presented as a directly comparable figure in the cited release |
| Full-year 2026 adjusted EPS outlook | $11.80–$12.20, raised by management | $7.70–$8.10, reaffirmed |
Source figures: Sherwin-Williams Q2 2026 results and PPG Q2 2026 results.
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Sherwin-Williams: faster profit growth, with a softer demand warning
What improved in Q2
Sherwin-Williams generated $6.789 billion of sales, 7.5% above the prior-year quarter. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 9.5% to $3.70, while reported diluted EPS increased 14.3% to $3.43. The Paint Stores Group, a key company-operated channel, increased sales 5.1%; same-store sales rose 4.2%.
Management attributed Paint Stores Group growth to mid-single-digit price increases and low-single-digit volume growth. That mix matters: pricing can protect revenue and gross profit from inflation, but sustained volume growth is usually a stronger indication of underlying demand. The Q2 release does not establish how much of consolidated growth came from acquisitions, currency or other factors, so those components should be checked in the company’s detailed filing.
Raised guidance, but not an unqualified all-clear
Management raised 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $11.80–$12.20, compared with $11.43 for 2025. The company simultaneously warned that customer sentiment and leading indicators pointed to continued demand softness in the second half. Chief Executive Officer Heidi G. Petz said, “While customer sentiment and the leading indicators we track point to continued demand softness in the second half, we remain focused on the actions within our control.” That is management commentary, not a guarantee that demand will recover.
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Longer-term financial base
For 2025, Sherwin-Williams reported $23.57 billion in sales, $11.43 of adjusted diluted EPS and $3.45 billion in net operating cash. These historical figures provide scale and cash-generation context; they are not forecasts. The company’s distribution system includes a large company-operated paint-store and branch network, alongside consumer and performance-coatings operations. That channel control can support service and customer relationships, but it also creates exposure to housing, remodeling and professional-contractor activity.
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Read the company’s 2025 results and investor materials at the 2025 year-end release and the investor-relations site.
PPG: balanced organic growth, but earnings and margins were mixed
Sales growth came from both price and volume
PPG’s Q2 2026 net sales increased 7% to $4.495 billion. Organic sales grew 4%, with selling prices contributing 2% and volumes contributing 2%. Chief Executive Officer Tim Knavish described it as the company’s sixth consecutive quarter of organic sales growth and said, “I am proud to announce that PPG delivered its sixth consecutive quarter of organic sales growth, a solid increase of 4%, with equal contributions from sales volumes and selling prices.” The balanced split is constructive, although organic growth can still vary sharply by region and end market.
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| PPG segment (Q2 2026) | Sales change | Margin result | Key detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Architectural Coatings | +8% | EBITDA margin improved 100 basis points | Best margin trend among the reported segments |
| Performance Coatings | +7% | EBITDA margin declined 300 basis points | Weaker automotive-refinish demand pressured profitability |
| Industrial Coatings | +7% | EBITDA margin declined 70 basis points | Volumes increased 5% |
Despite sales growth, adjusted EPS was $2.23, essentially unchanged from $2.22 a year earlier. This combination—higher revenue but flat adjusted earnings—puts margin recovery at the center of the PPG thesis. Investors should determine whether the declines in Performance and Industrial Coatings are temporary, related to mix and costs, or evidence of a more persistent downturn.
2026 outlook and 2025 baseline
PPG reaffirmed 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $7.70–$8.10 and expects full-year organic sales growth ranging from flat to low single digits. Its 2025 results were $15.9 billion of sales and $7.58 of adjusted diluted EPS, down 4% from $7.87 in 2024. Aggregate segment margins fell 60 basis points in 2025.
PPG’s international portfolio spans architectural, performance and industrial coatings and specialty products. That breadth provides exposure to automotive refinish and original-equipment manufacturing, aerospace, protective and marine, packaging and other industrial markets. It also means that currency, regional economies and end-market cycles can obscure the performance of any single business.
See the company’s 2025 full-year release, 2025 Form 10-K and Q2 2026 release.
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| Consideration | Sherwin-Williams | PPG |
|---|---|---|
| Primary structure | Large company-operated paint-store and branch network plus consumer and performance coatings | Broadly international architectural, performance and industrial coatings and specialty products |
| Channel exposure | Direct control of stores and service to professional contractors; also exposed to retail and consumer demand | More diversified distributors, OEMs, industrial customers and regional markets |
| Demand drivers | Repainting, remodeling, construction and coatings demand | Architectural repaint plus automotive, aerospace, transportation, industrial and protective applications |
| Main analytical trade-off | Potentially durable channel relationships, but meaningful housing and contractor sensitivity | Broader diversification, but more foreign-exchange, industrial-cycle and segment-mix complexity |
Neither structure is inherently superior. A company-operated network may improve availability, technical support and customer retention, while PPG’s geographic and end-market spread can reduce dependence on one market. The same diversification can also make results harder to interpret when architectural coatings grow but automotive or industrial margins contract.
Growth quality: separate price, volume, acquisitions and currency
Revenue growth should be decomposed before it is treated as durable. Price increases can preserve nominal sales during raw-material inflation, but they may reduce unit demand if customers trade down or delay projects. Volume growth suggests stronger underlying consumption, although it can be temporary when customers rebuild inventories. Acquisitions add reported revenue but require integration and may introduce amortization or leverage. Currency translation can raise or lower reported sales without changing local-currency demand.
- Sherwin-Williams’ Paint Stores Group reported mid-single-digit price contribution and low-single-digit volume growth; the cited Q2 release does not provide a complete consolidated bridge for every growth component.
- PPG reported 4% organic growth, evenly split between 2% price and 2% volume, while total sales rose 7%; reconcile the difference using the company’s release and filings.
- Check whether future quarters show volume acceleration, stable pricing and improving mix rather than relying on one quarter’s percentage.
Margins and execution to monitor
Margin direction may be more informative than sales growth when costs are moving quickly. For Sherwin-Williams, watch raw materials, energy, logistics and packaging inflation alongside price realization and store productivity. A raised EPS outlook indicates management currently expects enough operating leverage or cost control to offset those pressures, but the second-half demand warning remains material.
For PPG, the immediate test is whether Global Architectural Coatings’ 100-basis-point EBITDA-margin improvement can be sustained and whether Performance Coatings’ 300-basis-point decline reverses. Industrial Coatings delivered 5% volume growth while its EBITDA margin fell 70 basis points, a signal that volume alone did not protect profitability in Q2.
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Dividends and capital allocation
Dividend streaks show payment history, not current yield or future safety. Through 2025, Sherwin-Williams had raised its dividend for 47 consecutive years. PPG reported 54 consecutive annual per-share increases and 126 successive years of annual dividend payments. To compare income, use each company’s annualized dividend divided by the share price on the same date, then examine payout ratios, free cash flow and debt obligations.
PPG reported $790 million of share repurchases and $628 million of dividends in 2025. Sherwin-Williams reported $3.45 billion of 2025 net operating cash. These figures are not directly interchangeable: one is a company’s cash-return activity and the other is operating cash generation. Review debt, interest expense, pension commitments, acquisition spending and reinvestment before judging capital allocation.
Valuation is the missing step in choosing the better stock
No verified same-date share price, P/E, forward P/E, free-cash-flow yield, dividend yield or enterprise-value multiple is established by the company releases cited here. Therefore, operating results alone do not support a claim that Sherwin-Williams or PPG is cheaper or offers the higher expected return.
| Measure | How to calculate consistently | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Trailing P/E | Share price divided by the latest four quarters of GAAP EPS | Price paid for already reported earnings |
| Forward P/E | Share price divided by a clearly identified 2026 or next-12-month EPS estimate | Market expectations; sensitive to estimate revisions |
| EV/EBITDA | Enterprise value divided by trailing or forward EBITDA, using the same definition for both companies | Value relative to operating earnings before financing and some non-cash charges |
| Free-cash-flow yield | Trailing free cash flow divided by market capitalization | Cash return potential after capital spending |
| Dividend yield | Annualized regular dividend divided by same-date share price | Current income rate, not a guarantee of growth |
Use one market close for both stocks, identify whether EPS is GAAP, adjusted or an analyst estimate, and disclose the date. If Sherwin-Williams trades at a materially higher multiple, its faster growth and channel economics must justify that premium. If PPG trades at a discount, determine whether the discount compensates for margin weakness and cyclical exposure or reflects an attractive recovery opportunity.
Which stock fits which investor?
Sherwin-Williams may fit investors who prioritize
- More visible earnings momentum in the latest quarter.
- A raised 2026 adjusted EPS outlook.
- Exposure to a company-operated store network and professional-contractor relationships.
- A long dividend-growth record, provided the valuation and payout remain reasonable.
The trade-offs are sensitivity to repaint, remodeling and construction activity, plus management’s warning of second-half demand softness and broad input-cost inflation.
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PPG may fit investors who prioritize
- Broader international and industrial end-market diversification.
- Organic growth supported by both price and volume.
- Potential upside if automotive-refinish and industrial margins recover.
- A longer reported history of annual dividend increases and substantial share repurchases.
The trade-offs are flat Q2 adjusted EPS, a 300-basis-point Performance Coatings margin decline, a 70-basis-point Industrial Coatings decline and an outlook calling for only flat to low-single-digit organic sales growth.
Risks common to both stocks
- Economic cycles: Housing, remodeling, construction, vehicle production, transportation and industrial output can all affect coatings demand.
- Input costs: Resins, pigments, energy, freight, packaging and labor can pressure margins if pricing lags.
- Pricing and volume tension: Passing through inflation can protect revenue but may reduce volumes or market share.
- Currency and geography: PPG’s international footprint increases translation and regional-demand effects; Sherwin-Williams also has exposure outside the United States.
- Acquisitions and restructuring: Integration costs, amortization and restructuring can complicate adjusted-to-GAAP comparisons.
- Non-GAAP definitions: Adjusted EPS and EBITDA measures may exclude different items, so compare reconciliations rather than labels alone.
A practical decision process before buying either stock
- Set the valuation date. Record the closing prices for both shares on the same day immediately before making the comparison.
- Normalize earnings. Place GAAP EPS, adjusted EPS and the exact adjustment reconciliations in separate columns; do not mix them in one multiple.
- Build a growth bridge. Identify price, volume, currency and acquisition contributions for each company’s latest quarter and year-to-date period.
- Test margins. Compare segment operating or EBITDA margins, then investigate cost inflation, mix, pricing and restructuring.
- Check cash and balance sheet capacity. Review operating cash flow, capital expenditures, debt maturities, buybacks and dividends.
- Stress the thesis. Model a weaker second half, slower housing or industrial demand, persistent input inflation and a stronger or weaker currency.
- Match the stock to your objective. Choose the business whose risk and valuation fit your required return, income needs and tolerance for cyclicality.
What to update after October 27, 2026
Both companies scheduled third-quarter 2026 releases for October 27: Sherwin-Williams before the market opens and PPG after the market closes. As of the latest available reports, those results were not yet available. The next comparison should replace the Q2 figures, update full-year guidance and recalculate valuation using the new trailing earnings and cash flow. The schedule is posted in Sherwin-Williams’ announcement.
Verdict
Sherwin-Williams has the stronger current operating momentum: Q2 adjusted EPS rose 9.5% and management raised 2026 guidance, despite warning about softer demand. PPG’s 4% organic growth and equal price-volume contributions are encouraging, but flat adjusted EPS and weaker margins in two major segments make its recovery case less proven. That gives Sherwin-Williams the better business trend today, not automatically the better stock.
The final choice depends on the valuation you calculate on a common date. A premium-priced Sherwin-Williams could offer less upside than a reasonably valued PPG if PPG’s margins recover; an expensive PPG with continuing weakness could underperform even if its dividend history is longer. Without current, comparable market multiples and yields, the responsible conclusion is conditional rather than a definitive buy recommendation.
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