WESCO International Inc

Wesco International has been upgraded to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), a rating reserved for the top 5% of the more than 4,000 stocks covered by the Zacks system. The upgrade reflects a rising trend in earnings estimates, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company climbing 5.2% over the past three months. For the fiscal year ending December 2026, the maker of electrical and industrial maintenance supplies and construction materials is expected to earn $16.77 per share, unchanged from the year-ago reported figure. Zacks said the rating change signals an improving earnings outlook that could lift the stock in the near term, noting that its Rank #1 stocks have generated an average annual return of 25% since 1988.

Maintenance and repair distributors reported an exceptional second quarter, with group revenues beating consensus estimates by 4%. WESCO posted revenue of $6.67 billion, up 13% year over year and 3.7% above expectations, while Transcat delivered the biggest analyst estimate beat of the group with revenue of $92.95 million, up 21.6% year over year. Fastenal, W.W. Grainger, and MSC Industrial Direct also exceeded revenue expectations, though W.W. Grainger had the weakest performance against analyst estimates. Share prices across the nine tracked companies have risen 5.9% on average since their latest earnings reports.

W.W. Grainger is set to report earnings Tuesday before the bell. Analysts expect revenue to grow 8.9% year over year, an improvement from the 5.6% increase in the same quarter last year. The company beat revenue expectations last quarter with $4.74 billion, up 10.1% year on year, and raised full-year EPS guidance. Peers WESCO and MSC Industrial have already reported Q2 results, with WESCO posting 13% revenue growth and MSC Industrial up 7.8%, both topping estimates. Grainger's stock price was unchanged over the last month, heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $1,292 versus the current share price of $1,382.

WESCO International posted record second-quarter sales of $6.7 billion, a 13% increase both reported and organic, and raised its full-year 2026 guidance. Adjusted EBITDA reached a record $487 million, up 24%, with adjusted EBITDA margin expanding 60 basis points to 7.3%, while adjusted earnings per share climbed 35% to a record $4.57. The company's backlog hit a record level, surging 60% year-over-year, driven by multi-year customer commitments and double-digit growth across all three business units—Communications and Security Solutions, Electrical and Electronic Solutions, and Utility and Broadband Solutions. Data center sales grew approximately 45% to around $1.5 billion, and WESCO raised its full-year sales growth outlook to 10% to 12% reported, adjusted EBITDA margin to 6.9% to 7.1%, and adjusted diluted EPS to $16.00 to $17.50.

Seth Klarman's Baupost Group disclosed its five largest long common-stock positions as of March 31, 2026, in a 13F filing. The top holdings include Wesco International, which saw data center sales surge approximately 70% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, and Amazon, where AWS grew 28% and the company beat EPS estimates by 60.69%. Elevance Health, trading at a 13x forward P/E, raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to at least $27.00, while Restaurant Brands International posted Burger King US comparable sales of +5.8% and free cash flow of $169 million. Union Pacific is pursuing a merger with Norfolk Southern to create the first transcontinental railroad, with shares up 30.8% year-to-date. Four of the five positions carry BUY ratings with double-digit or better base case upside, according to the analysis.

Wesco International has completed its acquisition of Newark Engineering Group, a Singapore-based provider of engineered cooling solutions and lifecycle services for data centers. The deal expands Wesco's participation in the data center value chain and strengthens its presence across Southeast Asia. Newark Engineering, with offices in Malaysia and Indonesia, specializes in mission-critical cooling and thermal management systems, offering design support, equipment supply, installation, commissioning, and lifecycle services. Wesco, a Fortune 500 company with approximately $24 billion in annual sales in 2025, operates more than 700 sites in about 50 countries.

The nine maintenance and repair distributors tracked by StockStory reported first-quarter revenues that beat analysts' consensus estimates by 1.3%. W.W. Grainger posted revenue of $4.74 billion, up 10.1% year on year and exceeding expectations by 3.6%, while VSE Corporation delivered the fastest revenue growth among its peers at 26.8% to $324.6 million, beating estimates by 4.7%. DXP was the weakest performer, with revenue of $521.7 million missing estimates by 1.9% and its stock falling 8.3% since the results. WESCO reported revenue of $6.08 billion, up 13.8% and topping estimates by 3.7%, and Distribution Solutions posted revenue of $496 million, up 3.8% and beating estimates by 1.4%. Share prices of the group have been resilient, rising 7.9% on average since the latest earnings results.

WESCO International has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Singapore-based Newark Engineering, a provider of critical infrastructure lifecycle services and engineered cooling systems for data centers. The cash-free, debt-free purchase price is 175 million Singapore dollars, equivalent to approximately 136 million US dollars, for full ownership. Newark generated about 60 million US dollars in total revenue during its 2025 fiscal year. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to EBITDA margins and is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.