Fastenal stock drops as soft manufacturing environment hits Q4 results

What you need to know

• Fastenal shares stumbled in premarket trading Friday as the company's fourth-quarter results narrowly missed analysts' estimates.
• The sales volume increased 3.7% compared to the previous year, however, after subtracting an additional selling day from 2023’s figures, daily net sales increased by 2.1%. Profit declined 1.6%.
• The company said it continued to see a "soft manufacturing environment" in the quarter, as some of its factory customers cut production more than expected around the holidays.

Fastenal’s (FAST), shares fell Friday in premarket trade after it failed to meet analyst expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings.

Fastenal reported $262.1 million in net income, or $0.46 per share, on $1.82 billion in sales, all below analysts' consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

The sales rose by 3.7%, however, if you remove the extra day of selling compared to 2023, they increased by 2.1%. Profit declined 1.6%.

'Soft Manufacturing Environment,' Holiday Factory Closures Hit Sales

Fastenal said its sales growth was slow due to a "continuation of the soft manufacturing environment" present for much of 2024. Sales also were affected by more customers performing "unusually sharp production cuts" in late December as factories closed for the holidays, and foreign exchange rates having a negative impact compared with a positive one the prior year.

Fastenal’s shares fell by nearly 5% just an hour or so before the bell rang. They were up about 18% over the past 12 months through Thursday's close.

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