Fastenal Q3 FY2026: sales up 15.5%, EPS $0.35 as expense leverage kicks in
Fastenal's fiscal Q3 2026 was a clean beat: sales of $2.46 billion grew 15.5% and EPS of $0.35 edged the $0.3458 consensus, with operating margin up 90 basis points to 21.5%. The catch is mix — larger customers bring lower gross margin (44.8%, down 40 basis points) but better expense leverage. Read the quarter as volume plus cost discipline, not pricing power.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowDiluted EPS of $0.35 rose 19.8% from $0.29 and came in about $0.004 above the $0.3458 consensus, a thin but real beat. Net income of $401.6 million grew 19.7%, faster than sales, because SG&A fell to 23.3% of sales from 24.6% while gross margin slipped to 44.8%. Operating income of $530.8 million was 21.5% of sales, up 90 basis points year over year.
Sales of $2.46 billion rose 15.5% from $2.13 billion, and because both quarters had 64 business days, daily sales grew the same 15.5%. Pricing contributed about 240 basis points, so most of the gain came from volume and share gains, with direct materials daily sales up 18.6% versus 14.3% for indirect. Contract customers grew 18.8% and heavy manufacturing 20.2%, both well ahead of the company average.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-11-03
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