Fastenal, maker of industrial and construction fasteners, reported on Friday its third-quarter financial results.
The Winona, Minn.-based giant showed a net income of $133.3 million, matching Wall Street expectations. On a per-share basis, Fastenal said it had a profit of 45 cents.
Fastenal — which came in at No. 12 on Industrial Distribution's 2014 Big 50 list, showed a Q3 revenue of $980.8 million, narrowly surpassing Wall Street forecasts of $978.9 million.
Q3 sales were up $122,000 year-over-year, a 14.3 percent rise. Sales are up 11.7 percent over the same nine-month period from a year ago. Q3 net earnings also rose 11.7 percent year-over-year, while they are up 7.5 percent for the nine-month period.
With 2,647 stores reported in September Fastenal has 40 fewer stores than it did in December 2013. Yet, the company gained nearly 1,200 employees in those same nine months, a 6.6 percent headcount gain and it has 11.5 percent more employees than this time last year. It also added nearly 5,000 Fast Solutions industrial vending machines in Q3, an 11.8 percent rise.
Fastenal shares have declined almost 6 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen slightly more than 4 percent. The stock has declined almost 5 percent in the last 12 months.
