Fastenal Has an Income Boom

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On Jan. 20, 2009, Fastenal (FAST Quote) reported that its Q4 FY08 net income surged 11.3% year-over-year on higher sales. Net income stood at $62.54 million or $0.42 per share from $56.19 million or $0.38 per share a year ago. The latest quarterly earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.41 per share.

The company's revenue grew 5.0% to $544.96 million from $519.21 million attributable to an increase in the number of stores. Total number of stores increased to 2,311 from 2,160 stores in the previous year's quarter. In addition, full-time equivalent headcount grew 9.2% over the year-ago quarter. The company's gross profit surged 10.1% to $291.19 million from $264.57 million, while gross profit margin increased 248 basis points to 53.43% from 50.96% in Q3 FY07, driven by the company's efforts such as freight initiative and improvements in direct sourcing operations. Finally, operating income increased 8.4% to $99.31 million from $91.62 million in the same quarter of the last year. Store count growth during the quarter was 7.5% compared to 8.1% in Q3 FY07. ...