Fastenal Co. (Nasdaq: FAST), Winona, MN, reported first-quarter sales of $1.19 billion, a 13.2 percent increase over the same period a year ago. Earnings for the quarter rose 29.9 percent to $174.3 million.
The company’s vending devices business continues to fuel growth. Fastenal signed nearly 6,000 industrial vending devices in the first quarter, a 4.5 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2017, and its installed device count climbed to 73,561 as of March 31, a 14.2 percent increase compared to a year earlier. Sales through vending devices continued to grow at a double-digit pace.
