Fastenal Q1 Earnings Preview: Investors Seek Demand Trends Amid Recession Fears

Fastenal (FAST) stock was down 1.6% in extended trading on Thursday, ahead of the industrial products maker’s first-quarter earnings on Friday before market opens.

According to FinChat data, Wall Street expects Fastenal to post first-quarter earnings of $0.51 per share on revenue of $1.94 billion. Fastenal has missed analysts’ expectations in two of the previous four quarters.

The company reported a 5% rise in daily sales in February compared to the same month a year earlier. Its January daily sales also grew by 1.9%.

Its sales to the heavy manufacturing market grew by 4.8% in February, while sales to non-residential construction slumped by 6.7%.

Investors would be eager to learn about demand trends amid concerns over an economic downturn due to government policy uncertainty.

U.S. stocks and treasuries have been rattled over the past week after President Donald Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs last week, which he paused for 90 days on Wednesday. The U.S., however, maintained 145% tariffs on all imports from China.

Goldman Sachs sees a 45% chance of the U.S. economy going into a recession.

According to The Fly, Wolfe Research analysts said last week that Fastenal is positioned well in the current environment, with "a bit of a goldilocks set up as a defensive stock that has torque to ISM inflection."

The company had forecasted net capital spending of $265 million to $285 million in 2025.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits moved higher to the ‘bullish’ (64/100) territory from ‘neutral’(52/100) a day ago, while retail chatter was ‘extremely high.’

Fastenal shares have gained 4.2% year-to-date (YTD).

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