Fastenal beats Q3 earnings estimates; revenues in-line

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) beat earnings expectations for the third quarter of 2019 while revenues came in line with estimates. Shares soared over 9% in premarket hours on Friday.

Net sales of $1.37 billion were up 7.8% from the same period last year and in line with consensus targets. Daily sales grew 6.1%, driven by higher unit sales mainly in the industrial vending and Onsite locations.

Sales results in the quarter also benefited from higher product pricing implemented to mitigate general and tariff-related inflation impacts. Sales grew 3% for fastener products and 8% for non-fastener products on a daily basis compared to last year.

Net income rose 8% year-over-year to $213.5 million, or $0.37 per share, beating forecasts of $0.35 per share. Adjusting for discrete tax items, EPS would have grown 7.3% over the prior-year quarter.  

Fastenal signed 5,671 industrial vending devices during the third quarter. The installed device count at quarter-end was 88,327, up 12.2% from last year. Daily sales through vending devices grew at a mid-teens pace during the quarter helped by an increase in the installed base. 

The company signed 84 new Onsite locations during the quarter. At quarter-end, the number of active sites were 1,076, up 30% from last year. Daily sales through Onsite locations, excluding sales transferred from branches to new Onsites, grew at a low-teens pace, with weak demand impacting more mature sites. 

Also read: Delta Air Lines Q3 2019 Earnings Report

Fastenal signed 50 new national account contracts in the quarter, and revenues attributable to national account customers represented 53.5% of total revenues. Daily sales to national account customers grew 10.2% year-over-year.

At quarter-end, inventories were $1.35 billion, up 13.4%, over the prior-year period. This growth was to support higher sales. During the quarter, Fastenal opened two branches and closed 22 branches. The company activated 87 Onsite locations and closed 35.

In 2019, Fastenal expects to sign approx. 22,000 vending devices, slightly below its previous goal of 23,000 to 25,000 units. The goal for Onsite signings in 2019 remains 375 to 400. Capital expenditures are expected to come in a range of $195-225 million.

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