Fastenal reported its November sales results on Dec. 4, which reflected lasting — and accelerating — monthly gains on a daily basis for the company both overall and in its largest end market.

The Winona, MN-based industrial and construction supplies distributor posted total November sales of $627.5 million, up 6.2% year-over-year, with daily sales up 11.8%. 

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The Big Picture

• That daily figure topped October’s 11.3% gain, was the company’s best month since July (12/8%) and its fifth straight month of double-digit growth.
• The daily sales figure also topped the 10.6% estimate from Baird’s Industrial Distribution Equity Research unit.
• November daily sales accelerated in the United States, slowed in Canada/Mexico, and accelerated in the rest of international.
• Fastenal recorded solid daily sales acceleration in its largest end market — heavy manufacturing — and ‘other’, while other manufacturing and non-residential construction decelerated.
• The company’s largest product line — fasteners — posted a strong monthly acceleration, safety had a modest slowdown and ‘other’ ticked up
• By customer/channel, Fastenal’s top 100 national accounts saw considerable month-to-month daily sales acceleration, while in-market locations ticked down slightly

“Growth came in nicely ahead of our estimate/normal sequentials, with strong growth in manufacturing end markets and contract customers, while pricing was materially similar to 3Q25,” Baird wrote in an analyst note. “We believe FAST’s November ADS demonstrates building idiosyncratic momentum against a lackluster industrial backdrop (very low-single-digit IP growth, sub-50 ISM etc.).”

Fastenal Year-Over-Year Daily Sales Growth by Month

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Go Deeper

Here’s the breakdown of Fastenal’s November 2025 sales report and how each metric compared with October:

November Daily Sales by Geography, Year-Over-Year:

• United States – 81.4% of sales: +11.9% (+11.1% in Oct)
• Canada/Mexico – 14.6% of sales: +7.8% (+9.9% in Oct)
• Rest of World – 4.0% of sales: +27.7% (+22.7% in Oct)

November Daily Sales by Product Line:

• Fasteners – 30.6% of sales: +14.6% (+12.8% in Oct)
• Safety – 22.4% of sales: +8.1% (+8.9% in Oct)
• Other – 47.0% of sales: +11.9% (+11.6% in Oct)

November Daily Sales by Customer End Market: 

• Heavy manufacturing – 43.1% of sales: +13.0% (+11.5% in Oct)
• Other manufacturing – 32.3% of sales: +12.9% (+13.2% in Oct)
• Non-residential construction – 8.0% of sales: +8.4% (+10.9% in Oct)
• Other – 16.6% of sales: +8.1% (+5.1% in Oct)

November Daily Sales by Customer Category: 

• Contract customers: +13.0% (+13.0% in Oct)
• 71.0% of Top 100 national accounts were growing (66.0% in Oct)
• Non-contract customers: +8.0% (+6.0% in Oct)
• 62.9% of in-market locations were growing (63.9% in Oct)
• FMI: +17.0% (+17.0% in Oct)
• eBusiness: +7.0% (+6.0% in Oct)

November Headcount

Fastenal ended November with a total headcount of 24,595 — a 0.2% uptick from October and up 3.9% year-over-year. Full-time selling personnel headcount ended November at 15,452 — flat vs. October and up 2.6% year-over-year.

MDM’s Analysis

Fastenal tapped former Beko Europe CFO Max Tunnicliff to the same position effective Nov. 10, and the month’s sales report was a nice start for his tenure. Fastenal is the only publicly traded industrial distributor that shares a monthly sales report, which can make it a good barometer for the overall health and demand status for the industrial supplies/MRO/construction markets it serves. 

However, much of the company’s recent growth should be viewed as Fastenal-specific rather than illustrating underlying demand momentum, given the company’s recent pricing actions and broader business strategy. In its Q3 financials, the company noted a pricing impact that grew 240-270 basis points year-over-year, which was lower than it expected, but Fastenal noted that “pricing actions continue to progress.” 

With November’s report showing sustained strong daily sales growth entering the final month of the year across each of the company’s three broad product categories, it indicates lasting momentum for Fastenal heading into 2026.

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Outlook

“Beyond the near term, we continue to assume FAST is growing daily sales low-double-digits over 2026 and high-single-digits in 2027 even assuming just normal sequentials, with accelerating company-specific momentum,” Baird continued. “We continue to assume near-term contribution margins that are towards the high end of normalized 20-25% ranges (~23-24%) — aided by pricing and leverage on employee expenses on strong growth and potentially more stable headcount.”