"Stainless" alone on a spec sheet names a family of steels, not a grade. worldstainless, the World Steel Association's stainless steel program, defines stainless steel by a minimum of 10.5% chromium by mass and counts more than 100 grades, each with its own properties. The word alone therefore gives no grade's composition, hardness range or edge retention for that blade.
worldstainless calls stainless steel the generic name for a number of different steels used mainly for their resistance to corrosion, and says the one key element they all share is a minimum of 10.5% chromium by mass. It also says stainless steel is a solid material, not a coating applied to ordinary steel. That chromium floor is the one number the word itself gives you about a blade.
The floor is a minimum, not a typical figure: Crucible lists CPM MagnaCut at 10.7% chromium and still calls it a stainless tool steel. Corrosion resistance is not rust immunity either; Boker's glossary says "even stainless steel can rust under adverse conditions", and does stainless steel ever rust covers when and why.
worldstainless says there are more than 100 different grades, each with its own mechanical and physical properties. A named grade brings its maker's published data with it. Alleima calls 14C28N a martensitic stainless chromium steel and recommends 55 to 62 HRC for it; Crucible's S30V data sheet (DS413 2/10) gives an aim hardness of 58 to 61 HRC. A listing that says only stainless carries none of that, including anything about edge retention.
Makers use the word without a grade too. Gerber's FAQ says its products use "a 100% high-grade stainless steel" and names no grade in that answer. Case calls its Tru-Sharp surgical steel "a high strength stainless steel alloy which contains a higher Chromium content", with no grade or chromium figure given. Decoding a name that does appear belongs to what 1095 or 420HC means on a spec sheet, and the Steel Lab gives the generic tag stainless no entry, since it names no grade with a composition to verify.
Each product page's spec table lists what the product data for that knife states, so an ungraded steel row means the grade was not in that data, not that the steel is worse. Reading a knife spec sheet row by row shows what the other rows tell you.
If the grade matters to you, ask the brand that made the knife rather than guessing one from the word. Heat treatment shapes how any grade performs, as the heat treatment entry explains. Case, for its own knives, says choosing between CV, CS, stainless or other steels is largely a matter of personal preference.