Fastenal reported its October sales results on Nov. 6, which showed continued double-digit monthly gains both overall and across each of the distributor’s end markets.

The Winona, MN-based industrial and construction supplies company posted total October sales of $771 million that grew 11.3% year-over-year both overall and on a daily sales basis. 

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The Big Picture

• That October daily sales rate (DSR) outpaced September’s 10.2% and was Fastenal’s fourth straight month of double-digit growth. It also topped the 11.1% estimate from Baird’s Industrial Distribution Equity Research unit.
• October daily sales accelerated across all geographies
• Fastenal saw a modest DSR deceleration in its largest end market — Heavy Manufacturing — while Other Manufacturing, Non-Residential Construction and Other accelerated
• Strong growth continued across all four of the company’s product categories — Fasteners, Safety and Other — with a DSR deceleration in Fasteners and Safety while Other accelerated
• By customer category, growth accelerated both in Fastenal’s top 100 national accounts and in-market locations 

“Net, August was a bit softer than our more aggressive view but still indicative of strong share gains in a lackluster backdrop via internal momentum from company-specific initiatives,” Baird wrote in an analyst note.

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MDM’s Take

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. With October’s report showing sustained strong daily sales growth into Q4 and across each of the company’s three broad product categories, it appears to indicate lasting momentum for Fastenal. However, much of this 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.” At the time of that Q3 report on Oct. 13, the company said that market conditions remained sluggish, providing minimal contribution to sales growth.

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Go Deeper

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

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

• United States – 83.3% of sales: +11.1% (+10.8% in Sept)
• Canada/Mexico – 13.3% of sales: +9.9% (+4.5% in Sept)
• Rest of World – 3.4% of sales: +22.7% (+20.5% in Sept)

October Daily Sales by Product Line:

• Fasteners – 30.6% of sales: +12.8% (+15.1% in Sept)
• Safety – 22.0% of sales: +8.9% (+7.2% in Sept)
• Other – 47.4% of sales: +11.6% (+8.6% in Sept)

October Daily Sales by Customer End Market: 

• Heavy manufacturing – 42.9% of sales: +11.5% (+11.8% in Sept)
• Other manufacturing – 32.4% of sales: +13.2% (+11.8% in Sept)
• Non-residential construction – 8.4% of sales: +10.9% (+5.7% in Sept)
• Other – 16.3% of sales: +7.3% (+5.1% in Sept)

October Daily Sales by Customer Category: 

• Contract customers: +13.0% (+11.0% in Sept)
• 66.0% of Top 100 national accounts were growing (64.0% in Sept)
• Non-contract customers: +6.0% (+8.0% in Sept)
• 63.9% of in-market locations were growing (62.9% in Sept)
• FMI: +17.0% (+17.0% in Sept)
• eBusiness: +6.0% (+5.0% in Sept)

October Headcount

Fastenal ended October with a total headcount of 24,539 — a 0.4% uptick from September and up 3.8% year-over-year. Full-time selling personnel headcount ended October at 15,450 — up 0.2% from September and up 3.1% year-over-year.

Outlook

“Beyond the near term, we continue to assume FAST is growing daily sales low-double-digits over the rest of 2025 and 2026 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.”