Core & Main
CNM · Trading Companies & Distributors
$41.97
0.9%Fastenal
FAST · Trading Companies & Distributors
$51.91
1.6%The short version
- Fastenal is the larger business, with $8.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.6B for Core & Main.
- Fastenal grew revenue faster (8.7%, against 2.8%).
- Fastenal kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 9.4% operating margin).
- Fastenal turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.8% FCF margin, against 7.9% FCF margin).
- Fastenal earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (34.3%, against 13.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Fastenal’s earnings: a P/E of 42.2x against 17.3x for Core & Main.
| Latest fiscal year | CNM · FY25 | FAST · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $8.1B | $59.7B |
| Revenue | $7.6B | $8.2B |
| Free cash flow | $604M | $1.1B |
| Net income | $441M | $1.3B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.8% | 8.7% |
| 5-year growth | 16.0% | 7.8% |
| Share count change | −1.8% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 26.9% | 45.0% |
| Operating margin | 9.4% | 20.2% |
| Net margin | 5.8% | 15.4% |
| FCF margin | 7.9% | 12.8% |
| Return on capital | 13.7% | 34.3% |
| Return on equity | 23.9% | 33.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.9B | −$152M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | −0.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $155M | $1.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 17.3x | 42.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 7 |
FY16
CNM —
FAST $4.0B
FY17
CNM —
FAST $4.4B
FY18
CNM —
FAST $5.0B
FY19
CNM $3.4B
FAST $5.3B
FY20
CNM $3.6B
FAST $5.6B
FY21
CNM $5.0B
FAST $6.0B
FY22
CNM $6.7B
FAST $7.0B
FY23
CNM $6.7B
FAST $7.3B
FY24
CNM $7.4B
FAST $7.5B
FY25
CNM $7.6B
FAST $8.2B
CNM
FAST
FY16
CNM —
FAST 20.1%
FY17
CNM —
FAST 20.1%
FY18
CNM —
FAST 20.1%
FY19
CNM 4.6%
FAST 19.8%
FY20
CNM 5.1%
FAST 20.2%
FY21
CNM 8.5%
FAST 20.3%
FY22
CNM 11.7%
FAST 20.8%
FY23
CNM 11.0%
FAST 20.8%
FY24
CNM 9.7%
FAST 20.0%
FY25
CNM 9.4%
FAST 20.2%
CNM
FAST
FY16
CNM —
FAST $330M
FY17
CNM —
FAST $465M
FY18
CNM —
FAST $498M
FY19
CNM $180M
FAST $596M
FY20
CNM $202M
FAST $934M
FY21
CNM −$51.0M
FAST $614M
FY22
CNM $376M
FAST $767M
FY23
CNM $1.0B
FAST $1.3B
FY24
CNM $586M
FAST $947M
FY25
CNM $604M
FAST $1.1B
CNM
FAST
FY16
CNM —
FAST 23.7%
FY17
CNM —
FAST 25.4%
FY18
CNM —
FAST 30.3%
FY19
CNM —
FAST 29.3%
FY20
CNM —
FAST 30.2%
FY21
CNM —
FAST 30.6%
FY22
CNM 18.2%
FAST 32.8%
FY23
CNM 16.8%
FAST 33.7%
FY24
CNM 14.6%
FAST 33.2%
FY25
CNM 13.7%
FAST 34.3%
CNM
FAST
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Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.