Sales at Fastenal continued their strong upward trajectory in August, boding well for other distributors of industrial and construction supplies.

The Winona, MN-based company posted August total sales of $697 million that grew 11.8% on an average daily sales (ADS) basis — its second straight month of double-digit growth and fourth straight with at least 9.3%.

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The Big Picture

• The August report showed another strong daily sales growth month for Fastenal, albeit at a slight month-to-month deceleration from July’s 12.8% — which was the company’s best month since inflation-driven October 2022.
• August’s ADS growth figure missed the 15.6% estimate from Baird’s Industrial Distribution Equity Research unit
• August daily sales had continued strong growth across all geographies, accelerating month-over-month in the Canada/Mexico and a mild deceleration in the U.S. and the rest of international
• Fastenal saw double-digit daily sales in all end markets month-over-month, with non-residential construction seeing a potent acceleration while heavy manufacturing, other manufacturing and other end markets saw a modest deceleration
• All three product categories — fasteners, safety and other — decelerated slightly, but year-over-year growth remained robust for each
• By customer category, growth in Fastenal’s top 100 national accounts and in-market locations held steady near their recent highs

“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, making it a good barometer for the overall health and demand status for the markets it serves. With August’s report showing sustained strong daily sales growth and across each of the company’s three broad product categories, it appears to indicate lasting momentum for Fastenal — and the greater industrial supplies/MRO/construction supply markets it serves. Pricing is undoubtedly having an impact, as the company’s 2Q earnings call noted three separate pricing actions implemented during April-June. However, the extent to which those pricing actions were responsible for the accelerated daily sales gains in June and July is unclear vs. volume growth.

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Go Deeper

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

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

• United States – 83.8% of sales: +12.0% (+13.1% in July)
• Canada/Mexico – 13.2% of sales: +9.6% (+9.1% in July)
• Rest of World – 3.0% of sales: +17.6% (+20.6% in July)

August Daily Sales by Product Line:

• Fasteners – 30.8% of sales: +13.3% (+14.6% in July)
• Safety – 21.9% of sales: +10.2% (+11.7% in July)
• Other – 47.3% of sales: +11.5% (+12.0% in July)

August Daily Sales by Customer End Market: 

• Heavy manufacturing – 43.2% of sales: +11.7% (+13.6% in July)
• Other manufacturing – 32.6% of sales: +12.5% (+14.2% in July)
• Non-residential construction – 11.5% of sales: +11.5% (+5.0% in July)
• Other – 10.3% of sales: +10.3% (+11.2% in July)

August Daily Sales by Customer Category: 

• Contract customers: +14.0% (+15.0% in July)
• 70.0% of Top 100 national accounts were growing (71.0% in July)
• Non-contract customers: +6.0% (+7.0% in July)
• 62.5% of in-market locations were growing (63.7% in July)
• FMI: +17.0% (+19.0% in July)
• eBusiness: +9.0% (+9.0% in July)

August Headcount

Fastenal ended August with a total headcount of 24,283 — a 0.3% dip from July and up 3.7% year-over-year. Full-time selling personnel headcount ended August at 15,589 — up 0.3% from July and up 2.3% year-over-year.