Fastenal (Nasdaq: FAST), distributor of industrial and construction supplies, reported sales for its first quarter ended March 31, 2025, were $1.9 billion, up 3.4% from the prior-year period. Profit was $298 million.
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Fastenal experienced higher unit sales in the first quarter of 2025 primarily due to growth in larger customers and growth in average monthly sales per customer across all categories.
The impact of product pricing on net sales was not material in the first quarter of 2025. Price levels remained stable.
Daily sales were up 1.1% for fasteners, following seven consecutive flat or declining quarters.
Safety supplies were up 7.1%, and other product lines were up 6.7%. Total manufacturing (6.8%) and other end-markets (0.8%) were up from the prior-year period. Other end-markets grew due to the growth in warehousing and storage and data center customers, which partially offset the decline in reseller sales.
Non-residential construction was down 3.4%.
Fastenal attributes performance of fastener versus non-fastener product lines to:
- Fastener sales grew because of large customers, though it still lagged Fastenal’s non-fastener business because industrial production is still sluggish.
- Sales for the safety category were driven by lower volatility in PPE demand, growth in the vending base and success with warehousing and data center customers.
- Growth of MRO-oriented lines rather than OEM-oriented lines.
Daily sales through its ecommerce business – sales made through an electronic data interface (EDI) or other types of technical integrations – and through web verticals, grew 12.9% in the first quarter of 2025 and represented 30.7% of total sales.
