- Fastenal (FAST -3.1%) falls as much as 4% after reporting in-line Q1 earnings and sales, but gross profit margin slipped to 45.4% from 46.6% in the year-ago quarter.
- Q1 net sales rose 3.7% Y/Y to $1.42B, while daily sales increased 5.3% Y/Y vs. 2.8% growth in Q4.
- In fasteners, the company's single largest product by far, daily sales rose 4% Y/Y vs. a 2.3% decline in Q4, but daily sales of safety products decelerated to a 14.7% Y/Y increase from 34.6% growth in Q4.
- Raymond James analyst Sam Darkatsh, who rates Fastenal shares as Underperform, says initial commentary suggests Wall Street's margin expectations for 2021 are at risk.
- Other industrial distributors also trade lower, including WCC -3.4%, ROK -1.9%, MSM -1.9%, GWW -1.5%.
- The current housing boom could help boost Fastenal's growth going forward, Rick Pendergraft writes in a bullish analysis published on Seeking Alpha.