Metalworking and MRO supplies distributor MSC Industrial Supply reported financial results for its 2026 fiscal second quarter on April 1, which spanned December through February.

The figures were led by a modest year-over-year sales and gross margin improvement that was essentially entirely pricing driven, while volume remained down.

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MSC posted 2Q26 sales of $918 million — with average daily sales up 2.9% year-over-year, while gross margin of 41.1% ticked up 10 basis points (+40 bps sequentially). The revenue gain was below the company’s guidance of 3.5%-5.5%, while the margin uptick topped company and market expectations.

“I am encouraged by our performance which resulted in year-over-year operating margin expansion for the second consecutive quarter,” said Martina McIsaac, who succeeded Erik Gershwind as CEO on Jan. 1. “While we have not yet seen volumes return to a positive trend, our Core Customer daily sales outperformed total company for the third consecutive quarter, and we expect our volume performance to improve throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.” 

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The company’s operational statistics showed that pricing comprised essentially the entire ADS growth at +660 bps year-over-year, while volume fell 400 points. In dollar terms, MSC’s $26.1 million YoY sales growth was comprised of +$58.8 million from pricing, +$2.9 million from foreign exchange and -$35.6 million from volume.

By customer type in 2Q, MSC’s national accounts (37% of total) grew 0.2% YoY, public sector (9%) declined 1.2% and core/other (54%) grew 5.5%.

MSC’s 2Q operating profit of $65 million was up 4.1% year-over-year as operating margin of 7.1% likewise ticked up 10 bps, while net profit of $42.5 million improved 8.1%.

ECommerce comprised 64.1% of MSC’s 2Q sales — narrowly behind Q1’s 64.2% and ahead of 2Q25’s 63.6%.

Inventory Stats

• MSC’s 2Q26 inventory turns were at 3.5x — up from the 3.4x for fiscal 2025 and 3.3x for 2024, while 2Q26’ 104.3 inventory days likewise improved from fiscal 2025’s 107.4 and 2024’s 110.6.
• MSC’s 2Q26 supply chain headcount was down 9% year-over-year and down 13% vs. 2Q24.
• MSC’s 2Q26 supply chain compensation expense was down 4% year-over-year and down 6% year-over-year for the first half of the fiscal year.

3Q Guidance

For MSC’s fiscal 3Q26 — which spans March 1-May 30 — the company expects average daily sales growth of 5-7% and adjusted operating margin of 9.7-10.3%, alongside gross margin of approximately 41.0%.