Fastenal to Report Q3 Earnings: Here's What Investors Must Know

Fastenal Company FAST is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2025 results on Oct. 13, before the opening bell.

In the last reported quarter, its earnings per share (EPS) and net sales topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.6% and 0.9%, respectively. On a year-over-year basis, both metrics grew 12.7% and 8.6%, respectively.

Fastenal’s earnings topped the consensus mark in one of the last four quarters, missed on one occasion and met on the other two occasions, with the average negative surprise being 0.2%.

Trend in FAST’s Estimate Revision

For the third quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EPS has remained unchanged over the past 60 days at 30 cents per share. The estimated figure indicates 15.4% year-over-year growth.

Fastenal Company Price and EPS Surprise

Fastenal Company price-eps-surprise | Fastenal Company Quote

The consensus mark for net sales is pegged at $2.13 billion, indicating a 11.4% increase from the year-ago reported figure of $1.91 billion.

Factors Likely to Shape Fastenal's Q3 Performance

Sales

The top line of the company is expected to have gained from robust customer contract signing momentum and increased unit sales. The elevated trends are likely to have been fueled by its focus on improving its digital footprint and increased investments in sales resources despite a sluggish industrial environment. Moreover, a balanced mix of onsite and offsite services and market share gains across various product categories are expected to have added to the uptick.

If we go by the latest monthly sales report, August’s daily sales grew 11.8% to $33.2 million, with the same increasing 2.1% from July 2025.

In terms of end markets in August 2025, Heavy Manufacturing and Other Manufacturing daily sales increased 11.7% and 12.5%, respectively, with Non-residential Construction growing 11.5%. In terms of product line, daily sales for Fasteners and Safety grew 13.3% and 10.2%, respectively. Products under the Other category improved 11.5% in August 2025. During the same month, the daily sales growth of contract and non-contract customers was 14% and 6%, respectively, with daily sales through eBusiness growing 9%.

Our model predicts Fastenal’s average daily sales to be $32.9 million for the third quarter, indicating an increase of 10.4% from a year ago.

Margins

The bottom line of FAST is expected to have improved during the third quarter on the back of a favorable price-cost mix, the ongoing fastener expansion project and other supplier-focused initiatives. Moreover, the company’s cost control efforts, including automating warehouses, increasing delivery efficiency through its trucking network and selling more private-label products with higher margins, are likely to have aided the margins.

The company is likely to have faced an unfavorable customer mix, higher import duties and rising transportation costs, given the broader macro uncertainties spanning the economy. However, the increased leverage from top-line growth and margin expansion initiatives is expected to more than offset these headwinds.

We expect total operating expenses (as a percentage of net sales) to contract 100 basis points (bps) to 23.6% for the to-be-reported quarter. Our model also predicts gross margin to expand year over year by 20 bps to 45.1% in the third quarter.

What the Zacks Model Unveils for Fastenal

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Fastenal this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. However, it is not the case this time for the stock.

Earnings ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, FAST carries a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Here are some companies from the Industrial Products sector, which, according to our model, have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their respective quarters to be reported.
 
Crane Company CR has an Earnings ESP of +4.93% and a Zacks Rank of 2.
 
Crane Company’s earnings topped the consensus mark in each of the last four quarters, with the average surprise being 7.5%. Earnings for the company’s third quarter of 2025 are expected to grow 5.8% year over year.
 
Hubbell Incorporated HUBB has an Earnings ESP of +0.17% and a Zacks Rank of 2.
 
Hubbell’s earnings topped the consensus mark in three of the last four quarters and missed on the remaining occasion, with the average surprise being 2.3%. Earnings for the company’s third quarter of 2025 are expected to grow 11.4% year over year.
 
Otis Worldwide Corporation OTIS has an Earnings ESP of +0.30% and a Zacks Rank of 3.
 
Otis Worldwide’s earnings topped the consensus mark in two of the last four quarters and missed on the other two occasions, with the average surprise being 0.2%. Earnings for the company’s third quarter of 2025 are expected to increase 4.2% year over year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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