Fastenal Co. (Nasdaq: FAST), Winona, Minnesota, reported third-quarter sales of $1.4 billion, a 2.5% increase compared with same period a year ago. Quarterly profit was $221.5 million, a 3.7% increase compared to the year-ago period.

Fastenal said the 3Q increase was driven primarily by higher unit sales of safety products, where volume moderated relative to the pandemic-driven level of “surge” sales in the second quarter of 2020 but remained elevated relative to the third quarter of 2019. Reopening of the economy has been accompanied by greater demand for personal protection equipment (‘PPE’), hand sanitizer, and related products, which more than offset continued softness in underlying business activity owing to a generally weak industrial marketplace for products unrelated to mitigating the effects of COVID-19. The impact of product pricing on net sales was immaterial, as price levels were broadly comparable to those of the third quarter of 2019.

Daily sales of safety products grew 34.4% over the third quarter of 2019, and represented 23.8% of net sales in the third quarter of 2020; safety products represented 34% and 18.2% of net sales in the second quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2019, respectively. Daily sales of other products declined 2.3% over the third quarter of 2019, and represented 45.7% of net sales in the third quarter of 2020; other products represented 40.0% and 48.1% of net sales in the second quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2019, respectively.

Sales for the first nine months were $4.3 billion, a 5.7% increase compared with the first nine months of 2019. Profit for the first six months increased 8.3% to $663 million.

September sales increased 7.3% to $478.6 million over the year-ago period. The company reported daily sales of $22.8 million, up 2.2% versus a year ago.

Photo courtesy Fastenal Co.