Sherwin-Williams: Refinish up by low-teens due to high-single-digit volume

Sherwin-Williams President and CEO Heidi Petz reported to investors during the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call that Automotive Refinish sales increased by a low-teens percentage, driven by high-single-digit volume.

“The growth was broad-based, with sales up by double digits in all regions, providing further evidence of the value we are delivering in this end market to win new business,” she said.

Petz added, in response to an investor asking whether Sherwin-Williams sees “better than expected” Q1 Refinish performance continuing, that the company has “very strong momentum” within the segment.

“We are up double digits in every region,” she said. “We are getting price in, and I think that is a demonstration of a clear value proposition that customers are really understanding. There are a lot of dynamics, certainly, within the industry that we watch closely, but what we do not do is sit back and wait for the market to correct. We are out chasing new business aggressively.”

Company leadership was also asked during the call what Sherwin has to offer in Refinish that its competitors don’t.

“We have combined our controlled distribution platform with our automotive business and everything that we have to offer, with the subject matter expertise of our reps that are embedded in these customers’ body shops,” Petz responded.

She added that layering in the acquisition of Valspar a few years ago also allows Sherwin to leverage the best of automotive and waterborne technologies.

“We really have created a ‘best of both’ in terms of the value proposition,” Petz said.

Sherwin-Williams Investor Relations Senior Vice President Jim Jaye reported that the company delivered strong sales in Q1 during a quarter “characterized by heightened global uncertainty and persistent demand softness in most end markets.”

“We continue to execute our disciplined capital allocation strategy in the quarter by returning $773 million to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends,” he said. “We ended the first quarter with a strong balance sheet and a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.5 times.”

As for full-year guidance, Petz reported that the assumptions Sherwin provided during its January earnings call and slide deck largely remain intact.

“What has not changed is that our customer feedback, as well as the indicators we track, continue to signal little support for meaningful recovery in most end markets,” she said. “What has changed is the Middle East conflict has added further complexity and uncertainty in navigating the macro landscape.

“Our team has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to manage through crises, most recently during the pandemic and the U.S. supply chain disruption, to name just a few. I am highly confident we are well-equipped to manage through this newest challenge and continue supporting our customers at the highest level.”

Sherwin Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Ben Meisenzoll noted that Sherwin’s new guide contains more than twice the pricing compared to the original guidance provided in January.

“If you think about the phasing by the regions, we know that Asia Pacific is maybe more impacted right now,” he said. “That is going to impact EMEA [Europe, the Middle East, and Africa]. North America comes later.”

Petz added that Sherwin expects to see some negative impacts on demand from recent events as the year progresses.

“It is difficult to predict the magnitude at this time, given the highly fluid nature of the situation,” she said. “But I will remind you that this is our fourth year in a row we have been operating with the benefit of getting no help from the market. We know we are operating in a share-gain environment, and we will continue to be very aggressive here. We see opportunity in uncertainty.

“From a raw material perspective, our first objective is certainty of supply. The good news is that over 80% of our consolidated revenue is in North America. The majority of raw materials for these sales are sourced in-region and remain largely insulated from supply disruptions tied to Strait of Hormuz volatility… In terms of raw material price/cost dynamics, costs for oil, natural gas, and key petrochemical feedstocks, such as propylene, have inflated and remain volatile. As we have previously indicated, sustained inflation in these commodities typically takes about a quarter or two before we begin seeing an impact in our P&L [profit and loss statement].”

Petz said Sherwin expects inflationary costs to impact it more materially throughout Q2 and into the second half of the year, with its Industrial business already seeing inflationary pressures first, and to a smaller extent in North America.

“We remain deeply focused on the success of our customers, while continuously assessing and adapting to market conditions and controlling what we can,” she said.

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