Fastenal Company (FAST) looks poised for a mixed start to FY25

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) will report its first-quarter results on April 11, at 6:50 am ET. The company has been investing heavily to expand its digital footprint lately, and it posted a significant growth in digital sales last year.

Fastenal’s stock has traded almost flat in the past month, and the trend persists as the first-quarter earnings approach. After pulling back from the record highs of November 2024, the shares are struggling to regain strength. The last closing price is nearly the same as the stock’s value 12 months ago.

Estimates

When the Winona-based industrial supply company reports first-quarter 2025 results on April 11, before the opening bell, Wall Street will be expecting earnings of $0.52 per share on revenues of $1.95 billion. While the bottom-line forecast matches the EPS reported in Q1 2024, the estimate for revenue represents a 2.8% year-over-year increase.

“With the massive scaling of the market which was expected, we set ourselves the goal of more than doubling the network in three years and more than three folding revenues in the same period. On a station level, a network expansion trajectory, we have been trailing nicely, but not by a big margin. Bottlenecks such as grid congestion and permits have slowed us down more than we planned for. And with market sentiment being negative, we feel it is important to be prudent on the growth that we can realize this year,” said Fastenal’s CEO Michiel Langezaal in the Q4 earnings call.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Fastenal’s active onsite locations totaled 2,031, which is up 12% from the year-ago quarter. During the quarter, 56 new locations were signed. Net sales increased 4% year-over-year to $1.82 billion in Q4, with net daily sales increasing 2.1%. Net income was $262.1 million or $0.46 per share in the December quarter, compared to $266.4 million or $0.46 per share in the same period of 2023. Both earnings and revenue missed estimates, after beating in the prior quarter.

Digital Push

Digital sales accounted for 62.2% of total sales in the fourth quarter, driven by the company’s aggressive push to expand its digital capabilities. The share of online sales is expected to increase to 66-68% in fiscal 2025. Of late, there has been a steady increase in in-market locations, comprising branches and customer-specific onsite locations, and that trend is expected to continue this year.

On Wednesday, shares of Fastenal opened at $77.61 and traded slightly lower in the afternoon. They have grown 8% since the beginning of 2025.