Core & Main Inc vs W.W. Grainger Inc

Core & Main Inc (CNM) is undervalued and W.W. Grainger Inc (GWW) is overvalued.

Against our estimates of intrinsic value, CNM trades at the wider discount: a margin of safety of +26%, against -101% for GWW.

Values as of the 22 Sept 2026 close.

Core & Main Inc (CNM)

Discounting its cash flows at 8.6% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $58.43; the price of $43.01 is 26% below that value, and 78% of that value comes from beyond year five.

Leak Score 84/100 on 3 of 12 signals

W.W. Grainger Inc (GWW)

Discounting its cash flows at 9.8% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $631.74; the price of $1268.62 is 101% above that value, and 73% of that value comes from beyond year five.

Leak Score 63/100 on 10 of 12 signals

MetricCNMGWW
VerdictUndervaluedOvervalued
Price$43.01$1268.62
Intrinsic value$58.43$631.74
Margin of safety+26%-101%
Leak Score84/100 (3/12)63/100 (10/12)
Market cap$8.2B$59.8B
Revenue growth, 5 years16.0%8.8%
Operating margin9.7%15.6%
Net margin6.0%9.9%
Return on equity23.4%47.9%
Debt to equity1.350.68
P/E17.8x32.2x
Forward P/E12.6x24.8x
P/B3.9x14.5x
Dividend yield0.8%

All stocks in Industrial Distribution