Fastenal’s 38,000% Gain

Last year, I highlighted the remarkable run of Fastenal ($FAST). Never heard of it? Here’s the company description from Hoover’s:

Some might say it has a screw loose, but things are really pretty snug at Fastenal. The company operates more than 2,360 stores in all 50 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Asia, and Europe. Its stores stock about 690,000 products in about a dozen categories, including threaded fasteners (such as screws, nuts, and bolts). Other sales come from fluid-transfer parts for hydraulic and pneumatic power; janitorial, electrical, and welding supplies; material handling items; metal-cutting tool blades; and power tools. Its customers are typically construction, manufacturing, and other industrial professionals. Fastenal Company was founded by its chairman Bob Kierlin in 1967 and went public in 1987.

Roben Farzad of Bloomberg points out that FAST has been the top-performer since the market crash of 1987:

Fastenal is the biggest gainer among about 400 stocks in the Russell 1000 index that have been trading for at least 25 years, surging 38,565 percent, not including dividends, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Adjusting for splits, the stock has gone from 13¢ on Oct. 19, 1987, to $50.85. It gained 60 percent over the past year.

Fastenal edged out UnitedHealth Group (UNH), whose stock gained 37,178 percent and far outstripped Microsoft’s 9,906 percent, Apple’s 5,542 percent, and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index’s 506 percent. Not bad for a company that literally sells nuts and bolts.

I always find it fascinating when “dull” companies achieve such tremendous gains. Everyone is so busy trying to find the next Google ($GOOG) or the next Apple ($AAPL). Instead, we should be on the lookout for the next Fastenal.

Posted by on February 24th, 2012 at 1:39 pm


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