Industrial and construction supplies distributor Fastenal reported its April sales results on May 6, which reflected continued and accelerated sales gains — both month-over-month and year-over-year as the company’s largest accounts saw considerable sequential improvement.

The Big Picture

• Fastenal posted April total sales of $790 million — up 14.3% year-over-year both overall and on a daily sales basis. That daily sales figure growth was the company’s best since August 2022 (16.1%) during the height of post-COVID-19 inflation. It was the company’s 10-straight month in double-figures for daily sales growth. It topped the estimate of 12.1% from Baird’s Industrial Distribution Equity Research unit.
• Daily sales growth accelerated month-over-month across all geographies
• Sales accelerated month-over-month in Fastenal’s two largest end markets — heavy manufacturing and Other Manufacturing — along with Non-Residential Construction, while all other end markets had a modest slowdown
• 79% of Fastenal’s top 100 national accounts recorded growth in April — far above the 67% in March

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“Overall, a very encouraging month directionally consistent with recent reads from our survey work, other industrial earnings reports/outlooks, April’s 52.7 ISM and continued price/market/outgrowth gains amid organizational and strategic changes,” Baird wrote in an analyst note regarding Fastenal’s April report.

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MDM’s Analysis

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 1Q26 financials, the company noted a pricing impact of 350 basis points — up from 310-340 in 4Q25 — as it maintains cost neutrality year-to-date and that pricing actions didn’t keep up with higher costs of business as the quarter progressed.

With April’s report showing sustained strong daily sales growth across each of the company’s three broad product categories, it indicates lasting momentum for Fastenal for at least the first half of 2026 against a modestly improving industrial demand environment. The company doesn’t share volume details in its monthly report, but commentary from Fastenal’s 1Q26 earnings and in the Baird-MDM 1Q26 MarketPulse Report indicate broader demand improvement for the markets that the company serves.

Go Deeper

Here’s the breakdown of Fastenal’s April 2026 sales report and how each metric compared with March (in parentheses):

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

• United States – 82.9% of sales: +13.2% (+10.6% in March)
• Canada/Mexico – 13.8% of sales: +18.6% (+13.9%)
• Rest of World – 3.4% of sales: +26.6% (+23.7%)

April Daily Sales by Customer Usage:

• Total Direct Materials – 39.1% of sales: +16.2% (+12.8% in March)
  • Direct fasteners/hardware – 21.2% of sales: +18.4% (+13.9%)
  • Direct cutting tools & abrasives – 5.1% of sales: +14.4% (+10.4%)
  • Direct non-fasteners/hardware – 12.8% of sales: +13.5% (+11.9%)
• Total Indirect Materials – 60.9% of sales: +13.7% (+11.7% in March)
  • Indirect fasteners/hardware – 10.0% of sales: +19.0% (+15.6%)
  • Indirect safety – 20.9% of sales: +13.0% (+11.3%)
  • Indirect non-fasteners/hardware & non-safety – 12.4% of sales: +11.9% (+10.8%)

April Daily Sales by Customer End Market: 

• Heavy manufacturing – 43.8% of sales: +17.7% (+13.8% in March)
• Other manufacturing – 32.0% of sales: +10.5% (+8.7%)
• Non-residential construction – 8.7% of sales: +20.3% (+15.2%)
• Other – 15.5% of sales: +11.4% (12.2%)

April Daily Sales by Customer Category: 

• 79.0% of Top 100 national accounts were growing (67.0%)
• 65.8% of in-market locations were growing (65.3%)
• Contract customers: +17.0% (+14.0% in March)
• Non-contract customers: +9.0% (+6.0%)
• FMI: +17.0% (+17.0%)
• eBusiness: +10.0% (+6.0%)

April Headcount

Fastenal ended April with a total headcount of 24,741 — up 0.3% from March and up 2.4% year-over-year. Full-time selling personnel headcount ended April at 15,528 — up 0.5% vs. March and up 2.0% year-over-year.