Fastenal Co. (Nasdaq: FAST), Winona, Minnesota, reported first-quarter sales of $1.4 billion, a 4.4% increase over the same period a year ago. Earnings for the quarter rose 4.4% to $202.6 million.
Compared to the first quarter of 2019, this increase was driven by higher unit sales related to the company’s growth drivers, most notably contribution from industrial vending and Onsite locations, and from increases in certain products later in the quarter related to the coronavirus pandemic. A lesser contributor to our sales growth in the first quarter of 2020 was higher product pricing as a result of increases implemented throughout 2019 and in the first quarter of 2020 to mitigate the impacts of general and tariff-related inflation in the marketplace. Approximately 50% of Fastenal’s business relates to fastener and safety products. Together, these two product lines grew 4.3% on a daily basis.
