Fastenal stock fell early Tuesday after the industrial distributor reported earnings that matched Wall Street expectations.

Investors, it seems, wanted to see more improvement.

For the second quarter, Fastenal announced earnings per share of 33 cents from sales of $2.4 billion. Wall Street was looking for 33 cents and $2.3 billion, respectively. A year ago, Fastenal reported earnings per share of 29 cents.

Second-quarter sales were about $50 million, or 2%, better than expected, but operating profit margins were just shy of estimates and flat year over year. Higher fuel prices boosted transportation costs, and higher pricing didn't cover all of the increase.

Fastenal stock was down 3.8% in premarket trading at $45.26, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were off 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.

The results certainly weren't bad, but heading into Tuesday trading, shares were up about 17% year to date and trading at about 36 times earnings projected over the coming 12 months. Investors were expecting growth -- and they got it -- after six consecutive months of industrial economic growth. They might have wanted more growth. (Investors always like an earnings "beat," too.)

Still, Fastenal's earnings reflect improvement. Average daily sales, a metric of industrial activity at Fastenal's stores, rose 14.7% year over year in the quarter. Growth accelerated in the company's manufacturing and nonmanufacturing end markets. Sales into heavy manufacturing led the way, up 18.1% year over year. Nonresidential construction sales rose 17%.

Overall, the sales and earnings growth are positives for the industrial sector. Fastenal sells hundreds of thousands of products to tens of thousands of customers, offering investors a near-real-time look at the health of the industrial economy.

Things are getting better after a long period of no or little growth.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2026 08:34 ET (12:34 GMT)

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