First Read: Fastenal Co "2Q first look; Strong sales, Ok margins" (Neutral)

Research evidence excerpt

First Read: Fastenal Co "2Q first look; Strong sales, Ok margins" (Neutral)

Global Research

14 July 2026ab

First Read

EquitiesFastenal Co

2Q first look; Strong sales, Ok margins United States

Industrial, Diversified

12-month rating Neutral

Industrial distributor FAST reported very strong top line trends, which has positive read

across implications for the broader industrial group. But FAST and most other 12m price target US$49.00

distributors strive to maintain price/cost neutrality in any given period, which limits

potential for margin expansion. This is more or less what we saw in the quarter, with

Price (13 Jul 2026) US$47.05gross profit coming close to our estimate ($1064 million vs our $1060 estimate), but

gross margin down 75 basis points year over year, and operating margin 30 basis points RIC: FAST.O BBG: FAST US

below our model. Given shares trade at a high valuation, we’d expect this margin

Trading data and key metrics

dynamic to pressure shares a bit today despite the very positive top line disclosures.

52-wk range US$50.39-39.15

Market cap. US$53.9b

FAST results were 1% ahead of consensus in 2Q supported by stronger sales partially

Shares o/s 1,145m (COM)

offset by lower margins. Average daily sales in June came in 120bps ahead of normal

Free float 100%

seasonality, marking the third consecutive month of sales exceeding seasonality by more

than 100bps. The company continued to indicate improving market conditions, on pace Avg. daily volume ('000) 7,243

with Q1. This should be a positive indicator for the broader industrial market. Avg. daily value (m) US$329.4

Common s/h equity (12/26E) US$4.24b

P/BV (12/26E) 12.7x

For 2Q, average daily sales growth came in at 14.7% year over year. This implies volume

growth at +12%, improving from +9% in the last quarter.