Fastenal vs Watsco
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The short version
- Fastenal is the larger business, with $8.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.2B for Watsco.
- Fastenal grew revenue faster (8.7%, against −5.0%).
- Fastenal kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 10.0%).
- Fastenal turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.8% FCF margin, against 7.4%).
- Fastenal earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (34.3%, against 20.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Fastenal’s earnings: a P/E of 42.2x against 27.8x for Watsco.
| Latest fiscal year | FAST · FY25 | WSO · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $59.7B | $12.3B |
| Revenue | $8.2B | $7.2B |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $535M |
| Net income | $1.3B | $497M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.7% | −5.0% |
| 5-year growth | 7.8% | 7.5% |
| Share count change | 0.2% | 1.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 45.0% | 28.1% |
| Operating margin | 20.2% | 10.0% |
| Net margin | 15.4% | 6.9% |
| FCF margin | 12.8% | 7.4% |
| Return on capital | 34.3% | 20.1% |
| Return on equity | 33.3% | 18.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$152M | −$255M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.1x | −0.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.0B | $474M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 42.2x | 27.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
FAST $4.0B
WSO $4.2B
FY17
FAST $4.4B
WSO $4.3B
FY18
FAST $5.0B
WSO $4.5B
FY19
FAST $5.3B
WSO $4.8B
FY20
FAST $5.6B
WSO $5.1B
FY21
FAST $6.0B
WSO $6.3B
FY22
FAST $7.0B
WSO $7.3B
FY23
FAST $7.3B
WSO $7.3B
FY24
FAST $7.5B
WSO $7.6B
FY25
FAST $8.2B
WSO $7.2B
FAST
WSO
Operating margin
FY16
FAST 20.1%
WSO 8.2%
FY17
FAST 20.1%
WSO 8.2%
FY18
FAST 20.1%
WSO 8.2%
FY19
FAST 19.8%
WSO 7.7%
FY20
FAST 20.2%
WSO 7.9%
FY21
FAST 20.3%
WSO 10.0%
FY22
FAST 20.8%
WSO 11.4%
FY23
FAST 20.8%
WSO 10.9%
FY24
FAST 20.0%
WSO 10.3%
FY25
FAST 20.2%
WSO 10.0%
FAST
WSO
Free cash flow
FY16
FAST $330M
WSO $238M
FY17
FAST $465M
WSO $289M
FY18
FAST $498M
WSO $153M
FY19
FAST $596M
WSO $318M
FY20
FAST $934M
WSO $518M
FY21
FAST $614M
WSO $324M
FY22
FAST $767M
WSO $536M
FY23
FAST $1.3B
WSO $526M
FY24
FAST $947M
WSO $743M
FY25
FAST $1.1B
WSO $535M
FAST
WSO
Return on capital
FY16
FAST 23.7%
WSO 16.8%
FY17
FAST 25.4%
WSO 17.9%
FY18
FAST 30.3%
WSO 19.0%
FY19
FAST 29.3%
WSO 16.3%
FY20
FAST 30.2%
WSO 16.8%
FY21
FAST 30.6%
WSO 24.4%
FY22
FAST 32.8%
WSO 30.1%
FY23
FAST 33.7%
WSO 24.3%
FY24
FAST 33.2%
WSO 22.4%
FY25
FAST 34.3%
WSO 20.1%
FAST
WSO
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.