Fastenal earnings climb 8.6% in second quarter
Fastenal reported net sales increased $164 million or 8.6% year over year in the second quarter.
The results largely reflect the contribution from improved customer contract signings over the past six quarters. The company said market conditions remained sluggish, providing minimal contribution. Changes in foreign exchange rates positively affected sales in the second quarter of 2025 by approximately 10 basis points and negatively affected sales in the second quarter of 2024 by approximately 20 basis points.
According to a news release, the company experienced an increase in unit sales in the second quarter of 2025. This was due to a growth in the number of customer sites spending $10K or more per month with Fastenal and, to a lesser degree, growth in average monthly sales per customer site across all customer spend categories. The impact of product pricing on net sales in the second quarter of 2025 was an increase of 140 to 170 basis points, in contrast to the second quarter of 2024, which experienced a decline of 30 to 60 basis points.
From a product standpoint, we have three categories: fasteners, including fasteners used in original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), safety supplies, and other product lines, the latter of which includes eight smaller product categories, such as tools, janitorial supplies, and cutting tools.
With industrial production still sluggish in the second quarter of 2025, the performance of its fastener product line continued to lag Fastenal's non-fastener product lines. The fastener category experienced improved growth in the second quarter of 2025, as compared to the second quarter of 2024. This was driven by easier comparisons, increased contribution from large customer signings, better product availability in its distribution centers, and pricing actions implemented in the second quarter of 2025.
Fastenal says it achieved growth in its safety category reflecting the lower volatility of PPE demand, which tends to be utilized in more MRO than OEM applications, growth of our vending installed base, and success with warehousing and data center customers. Other product lines experienced higher growth from MRO-oriented lines, such as electrical and janitorial, rather than from OEM-oriented lines, such as cutting tools and welding/abrasives, reflecting continued soft manufacturing demand.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
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