Metalworking and MRO supplies distributor MSC Industrial Supply reported its 2026 first quarter financial results on Jan. 7, which marked the company’s first quarter under several new executive leaders, while its new CEO started their role on Jan. 1.

For the three months ended Nov. 29, MSC reported total sales of $966 million, up 4.0% year-over-year, with average daily sales likewise up 4.0%. It was a sequential acceleration from 4Q25’s 2.7% sales growth.

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MSC said 1Q’s sales growth was primarily driven by pricing benefits of 420 basis points, partially offset by a 30-point decline from impacts tied to the U.S. government shutdown (Oct. 1-Nov. 13) that represented a headwind of about 100 bps.

By month, MSC’s average daily sales decelerated throughout 1Q with 5.1% year-over-year growth in September, 3.9% in October and 2.7% in November.

Within MSC’s 1Q customer type and sales channel, sales performed as follows year-over-year:

• Core and Other customers — +6%
• National Accounts — +3%
• Public Sector — -5%
• In-Plant customers (20% of total sales) — +13%
• Vending machine sales (19% of total) — +9%

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MSC’s 1Q gross margin of 40.7% matched that of a year earlier and topped 4Q25 by 30 basis points. Year-over-year performance was credited to favorable customer mix of 10 bps due to lower public sector sales being offset by slightly negative price/cost.

The company’s 1Q operating profit $76 million improved 5.5% year-over-year as operating margin of 7.9% ticked up 10 bps, while net profit of $52 million increased 11.1%. MSC said its 1Q operating profit included $4.9 million of restructuring and other costs and share reclassification litigation costs. Meanwhile, operating margin improvement was primarily credited to higher sales and benefits from operating expense productivity.

“We began the fiscal year on solid footing by executing on the continued momentum from our recent growth initiatives,” said MSC President and CEO Martina McIsaac, who began her role on Jan. 1, succeeding longtime CEO Erik Gershwind. “This resulted in average daily sales growth at the midpoint of our outlook and approximately 180 basis points above the Industrial Production Index, despite headwinds related to the government shutdown of roughly 100 basis points. As a result of our improving levels of execution and focus on optimizing costs, we returned to profitable growth in the fiscal first quarter.”

MSC’s 2Q (December-February) Outlook

In providing its 2Q26 (Nov. 30, 2025 through Feb. 28, 2026), MSC is expecting average daily sales growth (YoY) of 3.5% to 5.5%. The company said preliminary December ADS grew 2.5% and anticipates January and February to improve to around 5.5% YoY and 3% vs. 1Q.

MSC expects 2Q gross margin of 40.8% (+/- 20 bps).

“Looking ahead, I am encouraged by our performance early in the fiscal year,” McIsaac continued. “We will continue advancing the benefits from our growth initiatives and identifying areas to optimize our cost to serve that supported our return to operating margin expansion this quarter. The timing of holidays created a soft start to the fiscal second quarter, which is affecting our outlook for average daily sales in the quarter, but I remain confident in profitable growth remaining a trend throughout fiscal 2026 and beyond as this momentum continues.”

MSC’s fiscal 2025 full year sales were $3.77 billion, down 1.3% from 2024, while net profit of $198 million was down 22.7%. 

New Executives

While McIsaac took over top leadership on Jan. 1 — a month after MSC’s 1Q ended — it appointed several other key leaders during or shortly prior to the quarter. One was Hilti veteran Jahida Nadi as SVP of Sales in October, and another was the promotion of longtime company finance VP Greg Clark to Interim CFO in late July.