Fastenal (FAST) Q4 Earnings Meet Expectations, Gross Margin Declines to 44.3%
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 1h ago
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Source: seekingalpha
- Earnings Performance: Fastenal reported Q4 earnings of $0.26 per share, meeting Wall Street expectations, with revenue rising 11.1% to $2.03 billion, slightly below the $2.04 billion forecast, indicating resilience in growth but also revealing underlying profitability pressures.
- Gross Margin Decline: Net income increased to $294.1 million year-over-year, yet gross margin fell from 44.8% to 44.3%, primarily due to rising costs of goods sold and timing of supplier rebates, highlighting challenges in maintaining profitability.
- Weak Customer Demand: The number of active customer sites decreased from 100,435 to 92,136, reflecting a decline in spending among smaller customers despite gains from larger accounts, which may further compress profit margins.
- Slowdown in Technology Deployments: FASTBin and FASTVend signings dropped 12.1% year-over-year, although installations and sales through the FMI platform continued to grow; management expects signings to reaccelerate in 2026 but lacks a clear near-term timeline, potentially impacting future revenue growth.
Analyst Views on FAST
Wall Street analysts forecast FAST stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for FAST is 45.00 USD with a low forecast of 38.00 USD and a high forecast of 52.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
9 Analyst Rating
3 Buy
3 Hold
3 Sell
Hold
Current: 43.740
Low
38.00
Averages
45.00
High
52.00
Current: 43.740
Low
38.00
Averages
45.00
High
52.00
About FAST
Fastenal Company is engaged in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies. The Company is a distributor of threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers, as well as miscellaneous supplies and hardware, such as pins, machinery keys, concrete anchors, metal framing systems, wire rope, struts, rivets, and related accessories. Its business tools include Fastenal Managed Inventory (FMI), Bin stock (FASTStock and FASTBin) and Industrial vending (FASTVend). The Company also invests in digital solutions that aim to deliver value for its customers, leverage local inventory for same-day solutions, and provide service. It serves general and commercial contractors in non-residential end markets as well as farmers, truckers, railroads, oil exploration companies, oil production and refinement companies, mining companies, federal, state, and local governmental entities, schools, and certain retail trades.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
