Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Announces Earnings Results

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Oct 16th, 2026

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01, RTT News reports. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Fastenal’s conference call:

Fastenal reported a strong third quarter, with sales up 15.5% to $2.46 billion, operating margin expanding 90 basis points to 21.5%, and operating income rising $90 million year over year. EPS and operating earnings grew roughly 20%, faster than sales.
Management attributed growth primarily to market-share gains, new contract wins, and deeper penetration of large accounts. Contract customers generated 18.8% daily sales growth, while sites spending at least $50,000 per month increased nearly 19% and sales from those sites rose roughly 28%.
Technology adoption continued to strengthen customer relationships and efficiency: digital sales represented 61.4% of revenue, the FMI installed base surpassed 143,000 devices, and FASTBin sales grew approximately 18%. Management maintained its expectation for 27,000–29,000 weighted device signings in 2026.
Gross margin declined 40 basis points year over year to approximately 45%, reflecting a roughly 50-basis-point customer-mix headwind and a 30-basis-point price-cost gap. Management said about 20 basis points of third-quarter gross-margin benefit came from timing-related items that should not be assumed to recur.
September daily sales growth moderated to 14.4% and pricing benefits are expected to fade as prior actions are lapped, although executives characterized the change as a normalization rather than a deterioration in demand. Management continues to target price-cost neutrality and believes operating-margin incrementals can remain in the mid-20% range during double-digit sales growth.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $50.38 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.50. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $38.97 and a fifty-two week high of $52.92. The company has a market cap of $57.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 3.93.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 88.14%.

Fastenal News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fastenal this week:

Positive Sentiment: Fastenal reported third-quarter revenue of $2.46 billion, up 15.5% year over year, while EPS increased to $0.35 from $0.29 and exceeded the $0.34 consensus estimate. Net income rose approximately 20%, supported by stronger manufacturing demand, pricing and growth with larger customers. Fastenal quarterly profit rises 20% as manufacturing demand and major customer sales grow
Positive Sentiment: Operating margin improved to 21.5% from 20.7% as higher volumes created selling and administrative expense leverage. Several analysts raised their price targets after the results, including Robert W. Baird, which lifted its target to $60 and maintained an Outperform rating. These Analysts Boost Their Forecasts On Fastenal After Q3 Results
Positive Sentiment: Fastenal declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26, reinforcing its shareholder-return appeal and supporting the longer-term income-investment case. Fastenal declares USD 0.26 dividend
Neutral Sentiment: The quarter showed continued market-share gains and digital expansion, but analysts remain divided on whether the strong growth can justify Fastenal’s premium earnings multiple. The company’s P/E ratio is above 40, leaving the stock sensitive to any slowdown.
Negative Sentiment: Gross margin declined to 44.8% from 45.3%, partly because larger customers generate lower margins. Investors also focused on September sales momentum falling short of expectations and Fastenal reducing its 2026 weighted FASTBin and FASTVend signing target to 27,000–29,000 from 28,000–30,000. Fastenal Falls as Investors Look Past Strong Q3 Results to Softer Growth Targets
Negative Sentiment: DA Davidson maintained a Neutral view and cut estimates after the earnings release, reflecting concerns that slower device-signing growth and ongoing gross-margin compression could limit future upside. Fastenal Analyst Cuts Estimates After Q3 Results

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,749,948.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Ancius sold 3,000 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 58,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,875,810. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Barclays cut their price target on Fastenal from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.83.

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About Fastenal

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Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies serving businesses, contractors, manufacturers and other organizations. Its product offerings include fasteners such as bolts, nuts and screws, as well as safety equipment, tools, cutting tools, material-handling products, electrical and plumbing supplies, and maintenance and repair items.

The company sells products through a network of branch locations, onsite customer facilities, industrial vending machines and digital platforms.

Earnings History for Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

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