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Fastenal FAST

Fastenal scores excellent on business quality (7.8 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$50.75Oct 9, 2026
Business qualityExcellent
Next earningsOct 14, 2026, before the open
Insiders, 90 daysSelling

Why it matters

  1. What Fastenal does

    Fastenal distributes industrial and construction supplies like fasteners and safety tools, generating revenue by embedding on-site inventory vending solutions directly inside manufacturing plants. The company focuses on expanding its active industrial vending and on-site customer locations to drive daily recurring replenishment orders.

  2. What it does best

    Fastenal dominates through its on-site vending and localized distribution model, yielding a gross margin of 44.7% that outpaces peers like FERG at 30.8%. This sticky hardware ecosystem locks in enterprise clients, making supplier switching costly and complex.

  3. The main risk

    Vulnerability lies in macroeconomic shifts impacting heavy manufacturing demand, which can compress transaction volumes across its localized distribution hubs. Any slowdown in client plant activity directly reduces recurring fastener replenishment.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityFair

Operating margin sits at 20.3% and ROE reaches 34.0%, driven by disciplined localized inventory placement. High return metrics rank in the top quartile of its sector, proving the business scales efficiently.

MoatStrong

An entrenched customer lock-in moat via on-site vending machines creates high switching costs for industrial enterprises. Its gross margin ranks in the top quartile of its sector at the 73rd percentile, shielding it from pure price competition.

GrowthSteady

Revenue grew 8.7% to $8.7B, powered by its on-site and vending expansion engine. This rate sits in the top quartile of its sector, showing steady acceleration compared to prior multi-year histories.

Financial healthStrong

Debt is negligible with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03 and interest coverage near 394x, making debt costs a non-factor. Free cash flow reached $1.2B, showing robust conversion. The balance sheet is exceptionally strong.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

3 sold $2.5M outside pre-planned sales.

Our sealed record on FAST

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is FAST a good business?

Fastenal scores excellent on the Cluenex quality check (7.8 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat strong, growth steady and financial health strong.

Are insiders buying FAST?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 3 sold $2.5M outside pre-planned sales.

When does FAST report earnings?

Oct 14, 2026, before the open.

For members

See FAST today

  • Today's verdict on FAST, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Fastenal (FAST)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/fast/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.