Company research

FAST · NASDAQ

Fastenal Co

Industrials · Industrial Distribution

$52.55

+2.14%

Close on Oct 29, 2026

Research data through 2026-10-28

Long-term research evidence only. No price targets, no trading signals, no recommendations.

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Pro Investor Academy research

Research data through Oct 28, 2026. Research is updated periodically, not in real time.

Quality

71

of 100 · stored research reading

Stored Quality research reads 71 of 100, an above-average reading in the covered universe. Some underlying measurements are stronger than others.

Quality research measures durability of the business itself from stored fundamentals: balance-sheet strength, profitability consistency and cash generation. It is a research reading, not a prediction of future returns.

How this is measured

Fundamental Momentum

Accelerating

61

of 100 · stored research reading

Stored Fundamental Momentum research reads 61 of 100. Stored measurements classify recent reported fundamentals as accelerating. This describes reported financial change already disclosed, with no forward-looking claim.

Fundamental Momentum research measures the direction of recently reported company fundamentals compared with the company's own history. It describes reported change, not future price movement.

How this is measured

Capital Returns

Moderate

46

of 100 · stored research reading

Stored Capital Returns research reads 46 of 100, recorded as moderate. Stored records show 13 consecutive years of dividend payments. Share count has been reduced at about 0.1% a year in the stored window.

Capital Returns research measures how a company has actually returned cash to shareholders: dividend record, buyback effectiveness, dilution control and how those payments were funded.

How this is measured

Valuation context

Price / earnings
43.7

Stored ratios recorded at the last research date (2026-10-28). Valuation Intelligence remains research context and is not a validated allocation signal.

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Research Collections

This company does not currently satisfy any collection rule. That is a stored research result, not a judgement about the business.

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In the company’s own words

What this company does

Note – Information in this section is as of year end unless otherwise noted. The year end is December 31, 2025 unless additional years are included or noted.

Fastenal began as a partnership in 1967, and was incorporated under the laws of Minnesota in 1968. We opened our first branch in 1967 in Winona, Minnesota, a city with a population today of approximately 26,000. We began with a marketing strategy of supplying threaded fasteners to customers through a branch network in small, medium, and, in subsequent years, large cities. Over time, how and where we engage our customers has expanded and evolved. Today we sell a broader range of industrial and construction supplies spanning more than nine major product lines through a global network of locations utilizing diverse technologies such as vending devices, bin stock devices, and eBusiness. The large majority of our transactions are business-to-business. We provide additional descriptions of our product lines and market channels later in this document. At the end of 2025, we had 1,595 branch locations in 25 countries supported by 15 distribution centers in North America, with 12 in the United States (U.S.), two in Canada, and one in Mexico; two in Asia; and two in Europe, and we employed 24,489 people. We believe our success can be attributed to the high quality of our employees and their convenient proximity to our customers, and our ability to offer customers a full range of products and services to reduce their total cost of procurement.

Historically, our growth was primarily measured by our physical locations count. Today, we emphasize optimizing our footprint and tailoring service models to customer sites based on their size and potential for growth. Physical location openings and adjustments reflect local market conditions and strategic priorities rather than a uniform expansion approach.

We engage customers primarily through physical selling locations that deliver Fastenal service and solutions at or near customer operations called sites (Sites). Starting in 2025, we have disclosed Sites information instead of public branches and customer-dedicated Onsites. These Sites are distinct locations of our customers' operations where we maintain inventory tailored to local demand, supported by our regional distribution networks.

Quoted from the business section of this company’s 10-K filed February 5, 2026. Read the filing

General research only. Not personalized advice. Public filings may be delayed, amended, incomplete, or reflect positions that have changed since the reporting date.