Industrial and construction supplies distributor Fastenal reported its August sales results on Sept. 4, extending a run of accelerating growth and posting its strongest monthly sales gain in more than four years. Let’s dive in with a detailed breakdown of the August figures.

The Big Picture

• Fastenal posted August total sales of $812.1 million — up 16.6% year-over-year on a total and daily sales basis
• The daily sales gain accelerated from 15.5% in July, marking Fastenal’s 14th straight month of double-digit growth and its strongest result since July 2022, when daily sales jumped 18.1% in the midst of COVID-19 supply chain recovery
• Growth accelerated from July across all geographies
• Fastenal’s two largest end markets — which comprise nearly 77% of total sales — both strengthened while non-residential construction slowed considerably
• Production-related direct materials growth accelerated, while indirect MRO-related materials eased slightly
• Growth breadth improved modestly for Fastenal’s largest national accounts and in-market locations

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Go Deeper

Here’s the breakdown of Fastenal’s August 2026 sales report and how each metric compared with July in parentheses.

August Daily Sales by Geography, Year-over-Year:

• United States — 83.1% of sales: +15.5% (+14.8% in July)
• Canada/Mexico — 13.6% of sales: +20.7% (+18.2%)
• Rest of World — 3.3% of sales: +28.4% (+21.4%)

August Daily Sales by Customer Usage:

• Total Direct Materials — 39.9% of sales: +19.1% (+15.7% in July)
  • Direct fasteners/hardware — 20.9% of sales: +16.7% (+14.6%)
  • Direct cutting tools & abrasives — 5.6% of sales: +21.7% (+17.1%)
  • Direct non-fasteners/hardware — 13.4% of sales: +21.8% (+17.0%)
• Total Indirect Materials — 60.1% of sales: +15.6% (+16.1%)
  • Indirect fasteners/hardware — 9.4% of sales: +11.7% (+13.6%)
  • Indirect safety — 20.7% of sales: +15.7% (+12.8%)
  • Indirect non-fasteners/hardware & non-safety — 30.0% of sales: +16.8% (+19.3%)

August Daily Sales by Customer End Market:

• Heavy manufacturing — 44.9% of sales: +21.8% (+18.7% in July)
• Other manufacturing — 31.9% of sales: +14.3% (+12.5%)
• Non-residential construction — 7.9% of sales: +9.6% (+16.9%)
• Other — 15.3% of sales: +13.6% (+15.5%)

August Daily Sales by Customer Category:

• 70.0% of Top 100 national accounts were growing (69.0% in July)
• 67.2% of in-market locations were growing (65.9%)
• Contract customers: +19.0% (+19.0%)
• Non-contract customers: +11.0% (+8.0%)
• FMI: +15.0% (+14.0%)
• eBusiness: +15.0% (+15.0%)

August Headcount

Fastenal ended August with a total headcount of 24,608 — down 0.4% from July and up 1.3% year-over-year. Full-time equivalent selling personnel totaled 15,514 — down 1.3% sequentially and 0.5% year-over-year.

MDM’s Analysis

Fastenal is the only publicly traded industrial distributor that issues a monthly sales report, making the company a useful barometer for demand across the industrial supplies, MRO and construction markets it serves. August strengthened that barometer considerably.

Manufacturing provided the clearest source of momentum, which its strength showing up in Fastenal’s customer-usage data. Direct materials — products tied to production — accelerated sharply to 19.1% growth and moved well ahead of the 15.6% growth in indirect MRO materials. In July, those categories had been close to even.

The figures don’t mean the broader industrial economy is suddenly growing at a mid-teens pace. Fastenal attributed its 14.7% second-quarter sales growth to a combination of improved customer contract signings, pricing and a modest improvement in industrial production. Pricing contributed about 290 basis points to second-quarter growth, while the company has repeatedly pointed to market share gains with larger customers as a major contributor to its outperformance.

Fastenal’s monthly report doesn’t provide a price-volume breakdown, so August’s 16.6% gain can’t be isolated into those components. Still, the acceleration across all geographies, both major manufacturing end markets and direct materials adds another encouraging data point for industrial demand heading toward the end of the third quarter.

The main soft spot was non-residential construction, where growth dropped to 9.6% from 16.9% in July. That remains healthy growth, but it interrupts several months of strengthening and stands in contrast to August’s manufacturing acceleration.

“FAST’s ADS growth continues to accelerate and outpace industrial end markets, alongside eight consecutive expansionary ISM PMI readings,” investment bank Baird said in an analyst note from its Equity Research Industrial Distribution division. “Overall, another exceptional month, consistent with an accelerating industrial market, strong (Fastener Distributor Index) Survey results and price/market/outgrowth gains amid organizational and strategic changes.”