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Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Nov 8, 2026

Fastenal Co (FAST)

A forensic read on Fastenal Co built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
12.0
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
33.3%
ROE
8.7%
Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Fastenal Co earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 12.0, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.

What the filings flag

96% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns. Returned $1.0B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 96% of free cash flow. Right at the limit of what free cash flow covers — little room before it's funded by debt or the balance sheet. That ratio has been CLIMBING toward the limit — 81% of free cash flow two years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $8M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 96%.
-12%
FY2023→FY2024
Dividend — cut. The payout was CUT ~12% in FY2024 (from FY2023). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$8.20B
Revenue Growth YoY+8.7%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+5.7%
Net Margin15.3%
Free Cash Flow$1.05B
Return on Equity33.3%
Debt / Equity0.03x

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 8, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

See a wrong number? Report an error with the filing it should match.