Fastenal vs WESCO International
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The short version
- WESCO International is the larger business, with $23.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $8.2B for Fastenal, about 2.9 times as much.
- Fastenal grew revenue faster (8.7%, against 7.8%).
- Fastenal kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 5.2%).
- Fastenal turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.8% FCF margin, against 0.1%).
- Fastenal earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (34.3%, against 9.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Fastenal’s earnings: a P/E of 42.2x against 22.0x for WESCO International.
| Latest fiscal year | FAST · FY25 | WCC · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $59.7B | $15.7B |
| Revenue | $8.2B | $23.5B |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $25.2M |
| Net income | $1.3B | $640M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.7% | 7.8% |
| 5-year growth | 7.8% | 13.8% |
| Share count change | 0.2% | −2.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 45.0% | 21.2% |
| Operating margin | 20.2% | 5.2% |
| Net margin | 15.4% | 2.7% |
| FCF margin | 12.8% | 0.1% |
| Return on capital | 34.3% | 9.4% |
| Return on equity | 33.3% | 12.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$152M | $5.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.1x | 3.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.0B | $163M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 42.2x | 22.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
FAST $4.0B
WCC $7.3B
FY17
FAST $4.4B
WCC $7.7B
FY18
FAST $5.0B
WCC $8.2B
FY19
FAST $5.3B
WCC $8.4B
FY20
FAST $5.6B
WCC $12.3B
FY21
FAST $6.0B
WCC $18.2B
FY22
FAST $7.0B
WCC $21.4B
FY23
FAST $7.3B
WCC $22.4B
FY24
FAST $7.5B
WCC $21.8B
FY25
FAST $8.2B
WCC $23.5B
FAST
WCC
Operating margin
FY16
FAST 20.1%
WCC 4.5%
FY17
FAST 20.1%
WCC 4.2%
FY18
FAST 20.1%
WCC 4.3%
FY19
FAST 19.8%
WCC 4.1%
FY20
FAST 20.2%
WCC 2.8%
FY21
FAST 20.3%
WCC 4.4%
FY22
FAST 20.8%
WCC 6.7%
FY23
FAST 20.8%
WCC 6.3%
FY24
FAST 20.0%
WCC 5.6%
FY25
FAST 20.2%
WCC 5.2%
FAST
WCC
Free cash flow
FY16
FAST $330M
WCC $282M
FY17
FAST $465M
WCC $128M
FY18
FAST $498M
WCC $261M
FY19
FAST $596M
WCC $180M
FY20
FAST $934M
WCC $487M
FY21
FAST $614M
WCC $12.4M
FY22
FAST $767M
WCC −$88.4M
FY23
FAST $1.3B
WCC $401M
FY24
FAST $947M
WCC $1.0B
FY25
FAST $1.1B
WCC $25.2M
FAST
WCC
Return on capital
FY16
FAST 23.7%
WCC 7.9%
FY17
FAST 25.4%
WCC 6.2%
FY18
FAST 30.3%
WCC 8.5%
FY19
FAST 29.3%
WCC 8.1%
FY20
FAST 30.2%
WCC 5.0%
FY21
FAST 30.6%
WCC 8.0%
FY22
FAST 32.8%
WCC 12.4%
FY23
FAST 33.7%
WCC 11.3%
FY24
FAST 33.2%
WCC 9.6%
FY25
FAST 34.3%
WCC 9.4%
FAST
WCC
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.