Data Centers, Aerospace, and Machined Parts: This Company's Earnings Just Made the Bull Case for U.S. Industrials
It's always fascinating to hear what industrial supply companies like Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) say about the economy and trends in their end markets. Their sales are relatively short-cycle, meaning there's a very short period between when a customer sees an increase in demand and when they use or order Fastenal's industrial fasteners, safety products, and a wide range of industrial products. That makes them ideal barometers of current market conditions and gives investors a great early read on earnings season. This continues to be a year of recovery for the U.S. manufacturing sector, with the Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) indicating solid expansion every month this year, having spent the 2023 to 2025 period almost entirely in contraction in the U.S. Continue reading