Why Grainger's Shares Slumped in January
Shares in industrial maintenance, repair, and operating supply company W.W.Grainger (NYSE: GWW) fell 10.8% in January according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The move comes in the context of a difficult month for industrial supply companies, including Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) and MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE: MSM). First, Fastenal and MSC Industrial gave results in January (Grainger released results in early February) and their nonsafety/nonpersonal protective equipment (PPE) sales weren't enough to convince investors that they were in recovery mode just yet.