Self-Service

Fastenal lifts Q3 2023 sales, earnings

Logo: Fastenal

October 12, 2023

Fastenal Co., a provider in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies and industrial vending services, lifted its Q3 2023 sales and earnings over the prior year period, aided by higher daily sales from more customer locations, according to an earnings report. Highlights include:

• Net sales increased 2.4% from $1.8 billion in Q3 2022 to $1.85 billion in the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2023.
• Net earnings rose 3.8% from $284.6 million to $295.5 million in the comparative quarters.
• Diluted EPS rose 4.1% from 50 cents to 52 cents.

There was one fewer selling day in the quarter relative to the prior year period and, taking this into consideration, the net daily sales growth increased 4%.

The higher unit sales was primarily due to growth at onsite locations, particularly those opened in the last two years. This more than offset the impact of softer end market demand on manufacturing customers and lower revenues to construction and reseller customers. Foreign exchange negatively affected sales by approximately 10 basis points.

• The company signed 93 new onsite locations, defined as dedicated sales and service provided from within or in proximity to the customer's facility, resulting in 268 year-to-date signings of new onsite locations.
• FastBin (infrared, RFID and scaled bins) and FastVend (vending devices) sales jumped 15.2% from $456.9 million to $526.2 million.
• Weighted FastBin/FastVend signings rose 15.1% from 5,187 to 5,969.
• Weighted FastBin/FastVend installations rose 10.8% from 99,409 to 110,191.

Shares traded today at $59.98 against a 52-week range of $43.73 to $60.48.

The $1.85 billion in quarterly revenue was in line with analyst expectations while the 52 cents in GAAP EPS beat expectations by 2 cents, according to Seeking Alpha.