Fastenal Co., a provider of wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies, including inventory vending machines, boosted its sales and earnings for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2021, according to an earnings report.

Net sales increased 10% from $1.41 billion in Q3 2020 to $1.55 billion in the third quarter of 2021. The third quarter of 2021 continued to experience strong growth in underlying demand for manufacturing and construction equipment and supplies, which drove higher unit sales that contributed to the increase in net sales.

Net earnings rose 9.9% from $221.5 million in Q3 2020 to $243.5 million in Q3 2021.

Diluted net earnings per share rose 9.7% from 38 cents to 42 cents in the comparative quarters.

The growth was slightly limited by slower growth or contraction in sales of certain products to certain end markets related to the COVID-19 pandemic when compared to the third quarter of 2020.

While the quarter witnessed an uptick in sales of certain COVID-related supplies relative to the prior year, the marketplace is more orderly and better supplied, and the unit price of many products is down significantly. As a result, the impact on net sales of the current increase in infections and hospitalizations is significantly reduced from what was experienced in the year earlier period.

For instance, daily sales to government and warehousing customers declined 40.5% and 13.6%, respectively, while sales of safety products and janitorial supplies declined 2.9% and 15.4%, respectively, in the third quarter of 2021.

Fastener daily sales grew 20.2% over the third quarter of 2020, and represented 33.4% of net sales in the third quarter of 2021.

Safety product daily sales declined 2.9% from the third quarter of 2020 and represented 21.1% of net sales in the third quarter of 2021. The decline from the third quarter of 2020 reflected the absence of surge-related PPE sales, only partly offset by improvements in manufacturing and construction demand.

Other products daily sales grew 9.2% over the third quarter of 2020 and represented 45.5% of net sales in the third quarter of 2021. Improvement from 2020 reflected higher manufacturing and construction demand, only partly offset by the absence of surge-related sanitation sales.

The $1.55 billion in Q3 2021 revenue beat analyst expectations by $10 million while the GAAP earnings per share at 42 cents was in line with expectations, according to Seeking Alpha.

Shares traded at $53.65 today against a 52-week range of $42.23-$56.39.

For the nine-month period, net sales rose 4.4% from $4.3 billion in 2020 to $4.48 billion in 2021.

Net earnings for the nine-month period rose 4.7% from $663 million to $693.8 million, while diluted EPS rose from $1.15 to $1.20.

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