Fastenal vs MSC Industrial Direct
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The short version
- Fastenal is the larger business, with $8.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.0B for MSC Industrial Direct, about 2.0 times as much.
- Fastenal grew revenue faster (8.7%, against 6.4%).
- Fastenal kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 8.0%).
- Fastenal turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.8% FCF margin, against 5.6%).
- Fastenal earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (34.3%, against 13.2%).
| Latest fiscal year | FAST · FY25 | MSM · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $59.7B | $6.4B |
| Revenue | $8.2B | $4.0B |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $225M |
| Net income | $1.3B | $223M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.7% | 6.4% |
| 5-year growth | 7.8% | 4.3% |
| Share count change | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 45.0% | 40.9% |
| Operating margin | 20.2% | 8.0% |
| Net margin | 15.4% | 5.6% |
| FCF margin | 12.8% | 5.6% |
| Return on capital | 34.3% | 13.2% |
| Return on equity | 33.3% | 15.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$152M | $412M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.1x | 1.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.0B | $208M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 42.2x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 8 |
FY17
FAST $4.4B
MSM $2.9B
FY18
FAST $5.0B
MSM $3.2B
FY19
FAST $5.3B
MSM $3.4B
FY20
FAST $5.6B
MSM $3.2B
FY21
FAST $6.0B
MSM $3.2B
FY22
FAST $7.0B
MSM $3.7B
FY23
FAST $7.3B
MSM $4.0B
FY24
FAST $7.5B
MSM $3.8B
FY25
FAST $8.2B
MSM $3.8B
FY26
FAST —
MSM $4.0B
FAST
MSM
FY17
FAST 20.1%
MSM 13.1%
FY18
FAST 20.1%
MSM 13.1%
FY19
FAST 19.8%
MSM 11.9%
FY20
FAST 20.2%
MSM 11.0%
FY21
FAST 20.3%
MSM 9.3%
FY22
FAST 20.8%
MSM 12.7%
FY23
FAST 20.8%
MSM 12.1%
FY24
FAST 20.0%
MSM 10.2%
FY25
FAST 20.2%
MSM 8.0%
FY26
FAST —
MSM 8.0%
FAST
MSM
FY17
FAST $465M
MSM $200M
FY18
FAST $498M
MSM $295M
FY19
FAST $596M
MSM $277M
FY20
FAST $934M
MSM $350M
FY21
FAST $614M
MSM $171M
FY22
FAST $767M
MSM $185M
FY23
FAST $1.3B
MSM $607M
FY24
FAST $947M
MSM $311M
FY25
FAST $1.1B
MSM $241M
FY26
FAST —
MSM $225M
FAST
MSM
FY17
FAST 25.4%
MSM 14.0%
FY18
FAST 30.3%
MSM 18.8%
FY19
FAST 29.3%
MSM 16.0%
FY20
FAST 30.2%
MSM 14.3%
FY21
FAST 30.6%
MSM 12.3%
FY22
FAST 32.8%
MSM 17.6%
FY23
FAST 33.7%
MSM 18.2%
FY24
FAST 33.2%
MSM 15.4%
FY25
FAST 34.3%
MSM 12.2%
FY26
FAST —
MSM 13.2%
FAST
MSM
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.