Sherwin Williams last week had better than expected earnings, but the firm is still not out of the woods amidst the current credit crisis, say Credit Suisse analysts in their latest research report. The poor housing market is understandably weighing on the firm's profitability, but it is still the weakest among companies that have reported so far, they say.

For several reasons, Sherwin Williams is not using resources well enough to their balance sheet, the analysts say. In particular, Sherwin William's short-term debt is 76% of total debt. If the firm does not refinance this debt with longer maturities and the credit markets deteriorate further, the firm could face the same headline risk as some big names during the  2001, the analysts say.