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CDW Corporation (CDW)

Technology Balanced

CDW delivers the laptops, servers, and cybersecurity gear that keep businesses and schools running smoothly.

$147.81

Is CDW Corporation a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: CDW delivers the laptops, servers, and cybersecurity gear that keep businesses and schools running smoothly.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-30.8%
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range-22% past year
$147.81
Low $97.12High $173.38
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into CDW Corporation
$692-31%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$18.88B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
2.18M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$142.84 – $148.42
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$97.12 – $173.38
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
17.7
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
1.7%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.96
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.96
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▲ +6% past week · ▼ -22% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

CDW cements its spot as the go-to digital partner for hybrid workplaces.

The bear case

Direct-to-customer manufacturer sales gradually bypass middlemen like CDW.

What does CDW Corporation do?

When a hospital or university needs to kit out hundreds of offices with new computers and secure networks, they often call CDW to bundle the hardware and software together. The company pockets a margin on the tech products it resells alongside ongoing IT services. Keep an eye on how corporate spending on technology shifts as the wider economy bounces around.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on momentum and value, and weakest on quality.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 64Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 35Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 43Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 65Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 63
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Trusted middleman for major technology brands
  • Strong return on equity showing efficient use of funds
  • Long-standing relationships with large corporate and public sector clients
What to watch
  • Economic slowdowns cause firms to freeze hardware upgrades
  • Supply chain snags could delay product fulfillment
  • Price wars among hardware makers can squeeze reseller margins

What do CDW Corporation's numbers mean?

P/E
16.0
This shows you are paying sixteen pounds for every pound of current annual profit.
Gross margin
21.6%
For every hundred pounds of tech hardware sold, about twenty-one pounds remains after covering the direct cost of those items.
Return on equity
44.2%
A punchy measure indicating how efficiently the business turns shareholder funds into profit.
Dividend yield
1.8%
The cash payout relative to the share price, offering a modest regular income stream.

How much money does CDW Corporation make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$1.49B$2.99B$4.48B$5.98BQ1 25Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26
Gross margin
21.6%
Net margin
4.7%
Return on equity
44.2%

Does CDW Corporation pay a dividend?

Yes - CDW Corporation currently pays a dividend of about 1.7% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

When does CDW Corporation report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

CDW Corporation is next scheduled to report on about 2026-08-05 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-05-06$2.29$2.28In line
2026-02-04$2.44$2.57Beat +5%
2025-11-04$2.62$2.71Beat +3%
2025-08-06$2.49$2.60Beat +4%
2025-05-07$1.96$2.15Beat +10%
2025-02-05$2.32$2.48Beat +7%

Across the last 6 quarters here, CDW Corporation came in ahead of what analysts expected 5 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

More in Technology

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What are the scenarios for CDW Corporation?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$176$148$95today · $148▲ Bull · $163• Base · $150▼ Bear · $133in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +15%Corporate tech budgets bounce back faster than expected.
Base
-2% to +5%Demand for IT upgrades stays steady and predictable.
Bear
-15% to -5%Businesses delay hardware spending due to economic jitters.

What are the pros and cons of CDW Corporation?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Trusted middleman for major technology brands
  • Strong return on equity showing efficient use of funds
  • Long-standing relationships with large corporate and public sector clients
The catch3
  • Thin net profit margins leave little room for error
  • Relies heavily on businesses keeping their IT budgets open
  • Reselling hardware is a fiercely competitive space
Key risks3
  • Economic slowdowns cause firms to freeze hardware upgrades
  • Supply chain snags could delay product fulfillment
  • Price wars among hardware makers can squeeze reseller margins
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.