Sherwin-Williams announced record sales for 2022, generating $22.15 billion in sales. Their CEO attributed the strong results to “selling price increases in all segments and higher architectural sales volume in The Americas Group.” Chairman and CEO John Morikis singled out the Americas Group, citing its double-digit sales growth in all customer segments, “including the seventh consecutive year of double-digit growth in residential repaint.”

“Our more than 61,000 employees delivered these results in another year of difficult operating conditions,” said Morikis. “We refused to be deterred by these challenges and continued to do what we do best – serve our customers.”

The CEO also praised Sherwin-Williams’ ability to generate strong net operating cash, which allowed the paint manufacturer to buy back $883 million in company shares, pay investors $619 million in dividends and use $1 billion to complete five acquisitions.

Morikis added that the coming year, while it also appears to be challenging, should yield good results for the company, but it’s too soon to look too far ahead. “Visibility beyond our first half of the year is limited. On the architectural side, U.S. housing will be under significant pressure this year,” said Morikis. “Slowing existing home sales and continued high inflation also will be headwinds. On the industrial side, we have already seen a slowdown in Europe, and the same is beginning to appear in the U.S. across several sectors,” said Morikis.

Even so, he’s predicting a good year for the company overall. “We enter 2023 with confidence and energy. We have clarity of mission, the right strategy and a focus on solutions for our customers,” said Morikis. “Above all, we have the right people, and we expect to outperform the market in 2023 just as we have in the past.”