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Side-by-side financial comparison of W. W. Grainger (GWW) and Mastercard (MA). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

Mastercard is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($8.4B vs $4.4B, roughly 1.9× W. W. Grainger). Mastercard runs the higher net margin — 46.4% vs 10.2%, a 36.2% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Mastercard posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (16.0% vs 4.5%). Over the past eight quarters, Mastercard's revenue compounded faster (9.9% CAGR vs 2.2%).

W. W. Grainger, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 industrial supply company founded in 1927 in Chicago by the company's namesake William W. (Bill) Grainger. He founded the company to provide consumers with access to a consistent supply of motors. The company now serves more than 4.5 million customers worldwide with offerings such as motors, lighting, material handling, fasteners, plumbing, tools, and safety supplies, along with inventory management services and technical support.

Mastercard Inc. is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York. It offers a range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the card-issuing banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use the Mastercard-brand debit, credit and prepaid cards to make purchases. Mastercard has been publicly traded since 2006.

GWW vs MA — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
MA
MA
1.9× larger
MA
$8.4B
$4.4B
GWW
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
MA
MA
+11.5% gap
MA
16.0%
4.5%
GWW
Higher net margin
MA
MA
36.2% more per $
MA
46.4%
10.2%
GWW
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
MA
MA
Annualised
MA
9.9%
2.2%
GWW

Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q1 FY2026

Metric
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Revenue
$4.4B
$8.4B
Net Profit
$451.0M
$3.9B
Gross Margin
39.5%
Operating Margin
14.3%
58.3%
Net Margin
10.2%
46.4%
Revenue YoY
4.5%
16.0%
Net Profit YoY
-5.1%
18.0%
EPS (diluted)
$9.45
$4.35

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$8.4B
Q4 25
$4.4B
$8.8B
Q3 25
$4.7B
$8.6B
Q2 25
$4.6B
$8.1B
Q1 25
$4.3B
$7.3B
Q4 24
$4.2B
$7.5B
Q3 24
$4.4B
$7.4B
Q2 24
$4.3B
$7.0B
Net Profit
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$3.9B
Q4 25
$451.0M
$4.1B
Q3 25
$294.0M
$3.9B
Q2 25
$482.0M
$3.7B
Q1 25
$479.0M
$3.3B
Q4 24
$475.0M
$3.3B
Q3 24
$486.0M
$3.3B
Q2 24
$470.0M
$3.3B
Gross Margin
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
Q4 25
39.5%
Q3 25
38.6%
Q2 25
38.5%
Q1 25
39.7%
Q4 24
39.6%
Q3 24
39.2%
Q2 24
39.3%
Operating Margin
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
58.3%
Q4 25
14.3%
55.8%
Q3 25
11.0%
58.8%
Q2 25
14.9%
58.7%
Q1 25
15.6%
57.2%
Q4 24
15.0%
52.6%
Q3 24
15.6%
54.3%
Q2 24
15.1%
58.0%
Net Margin
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
46.4%
Q4 25
10.2%
46.1%
Q3 25
6.3%
45.7%
Q2 25
10.6%
45.5%
Q1 25
11.1%
45.2%
Q4 24
11.2%
44.6%
Q3 24
11.1%
44.3%
Q2 24
10.9%
46.8%
EPS (diluted)
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$4.35
Q4 25
$9.45
$4.52
Q3 25
$6.12
$4.34
Q2 25
$9.97
$4.07
Q1 25
$9.86
$3.59
Q4 24
$9.71
$3.64
Q3 24
$9.87
$3.53
Q2 24
$9.51
$3.50

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$585.0M
$7.9B
Total DebtLower is stronger
$2.5B
$19.0B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$3.7B
$6.7B
Total Assets
$9.0B
$52.4B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
0.67×
2.82×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$7.9B
Q4 25
$585.0M
$10.6B
Q3 25
$535.0M
$10.3B
Q2 25
$597.0M
$9.0B
Q1 25
$666.0M
$7.6B
Q4 24
$1.0B
$8.4B
Q3 24
$1.4B
$11.1B
Q2 24
$769.0M
$7.0B
Total Debt
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$19.0B
Q4 25
$2.5B
Q3 25
$2.4B
Q2 25
$2.3B
Q1 25
$2.3B
Q4 24
$2.8B
Q3 24
$2.3B
Q2 24
$1.8B
Stockholders' Equity
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$6.7B
Q4 25
$3.7B
$7.7B
Q3 25
$3.6B
$7.9B
Q2 25
$3.7B
$7.9B
Q1 25
$3.5B
$6.7B
Q4 24
$3.4B
$6.5B
Q3 24
$3.5B
$7.4B
Q2 24
$3.3B
$7.4B
Total Assets
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$52.4B
Q4 25
$9.0B
$54.2B
Q3 25
$8.8B
$53.3B
Q2 25
$8.9B
$51.4B
Q1 25
$8.7B
$48.5B
Q4 24
$8.8B
$48.1B
Q3 24
$9.1B
$47.2B
Q2 24
$8.4B
$42.3B
Debt / Equity
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
2.82×
Q4 25
0.67×
Q3 25
0.67×
Q2 25
0.64×
Q1 25
0.66×
Q4 24
0.83×
Q3 24
0.65×
Q2 24
0.54×

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$395.0M
$3.0B
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$269.0M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
6.1%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
2.8%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
0.88×
0.77×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$1.3B

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
$3.0B
Q4 25
$395.0M
$5.0B
Q3 25
$597.0M
$5.7B
Q2 25
$377.0M
$4.6B
Q1 25
$646.0M
$2.4B
Q4 24
$428.0M
$4.8B
Q3 24
$611.0M
$5.1B
Q2 24
$411.0M
$3.1B
Free Cash Flow
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
Q4 25
$269.0M
$4.9B
Q3 25
$339.0M
$5.5B
Q2 25
$202.0M
$4.6B
Q1 25
$521.0M
$2.2B
Q4 24
$170.0M
$4.7B
Q3 24
$523.0M
$5.0B
Q2 24
$335.0M
$3.0B
FCF Margin
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
Q4 25
6.1%
55.5%
Q3 25
7.3%
63.8%
Q2 25
4.4%
56.1%
Q1 25
12.1%
30.6%
Q4 24
4.0%
63.3%
Q3 24
11.9%
68.2%
Q2 24
7.8%
43.4%
Capex Intensity
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
Q4 25
2.8%
1.3%
Q3 25
5.5%
2.1%
Q2 25
3.8%
0.5%
Q1 25
2.9%
2.2%
Q4 24
6.1%
1.3%
Q3 24
2.0%
1.5%
Q2 24
1.8%
1.7%
Cash Conversion
GWW
GWW
MA
MA
Q1 26
0.77×
Q4 25
0.88×
1.23×
Q3 25
2.03×
1.44×
Q2 25
0.78×
1.24×
Q1 25
1.35×
0.73×
Q4 24
0.90×
1.45×
Q3 24
1.26×
1.57×
Q2 24
0.87×
0.96×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

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