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1989 FIN – Fastenal Expanding in Cities With 20,000 to 70,000 Populations

October 1, 1989 FIN – Fastenal says its ideal store location is a small city with a population of 20,000 to 70,000 and there are between 500 and 700 such potential U.S. markets waiting to be exploited, according to Alan Abelson’s Wall Street column in Barron’s.

Abelson wrote that Fastenal “has shown an extraordinary ability to churn out smashing improvement in sales and earnings,” and has had a “long string of annual sales and earnings gains of eye-popping magnitude.”

• Fastenal started in 1967 and went public two years ago.
• The company sells its nuts and bolts via a chain of nearly 100 retail outfits and about half its fasteners end up in factories an another 25% or so in construction.
• The company’s stock has risen from $6 in August 1987 to about $30 when the Abelson column was published September 18, 1989.
• Fastenal earnings for the first six months of 1989 were 36 cents/share, compared with 29 cents for the same period in 1988. For all of 1988 earnings were 67 cents/share, compared with 40 cents for 1987.
This year’s estimated net earnings: 88-90 cents/share and possibly $1.20/share in 1990 barring a major recession in manufacturing.

The positive comments by Abelson are especially noteworthy because he is “better known for skeptical stances and cynical comments than laudatory lingo,” FIN editor Dick Callahan observed.
Robert Kierlin is the Fastenal CEO; Steve Slaggie, secretary/treasurer; Robert Strauss, national sales manager; and Will Oberton, national operations manager. ©1989/2010 Fastener Industry News.

Related Links:

• Fastenal