Benzinga | Jan 19, 2022 08:06AM EST

Fastenal Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Clocks 13% Sales Growth

* Fastenal Co (NASDAQ:FAST) reported fourth-quarter FY21 sales growth of 12.8% year-over-year to $1.53 billion, beating the consensus of $1.51 billion.

* The company continued to experience robust and economically-driven growth in underlying demand for manufacturing and construction equipment and supplies, which drove higher unit sales.

* Gross profit improved by 15.2% to $712.9 million, while the gross margin expanded by 90 bps to 46.5%.

* The operating income increased by 13.8% Y/Y to $300.9 million, and the margin expanded 10 bps to 19.6%.

* Net earnings were $231.2 million, an increase of 17.9% Y/Y. EPS improved to $0.40 from $0.34 in 4Q20, beating the consensus of $0.38.

* Weighted FASTVend/FASTBin signings (MEUs) were 3,972, up 11.9% from 3,548 a year ago.

* Fastener daily sales grew 24.2% Y/Y and represented 33.5% of net sales. Safety product daily sales increased 3.5% Y/Y and represented 21.4% of net sales. Other products' daily sales rose 12.8% Y/Y and represented 45.1% of net sales.

* Fastenal generated cash from operating activities for FY21 of $770.1 million, compared to $1.1 billion a year ago.

* Total debt was $390 million at the end of the quarter or 11.4% of total capital. It held cash and equivalents of $236.2 million as of December 31, 2021.

* The company signed 274 new Onsite locations in FY21, with 44 signings in Q4. It expects 375 - 400 annual signings for FY22.

* The company anticipates weighted FASTBin and FASTVend device signings in 2022 of 23,000 - 25,000 MEUs.

* Fastenal expects investment in property and equipment, net of proceeds of sales, in 2022 to be $180 million - $200 million.

* Price Action: FAST shares traded higher by 1.46% at $59.24 in premarket on the last check Wednesday.