Fastenal Q1 Earnings Top Views, Shares Rise

Shares of

surged more than 3 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter. The Winona, Minnesota-based company reported a quarterly profit of $127.6 million, or $0.43 per share, compared to a year-ago profit of $112 million, or $0.38 per share. Its sales gained 8.8 percent to $953 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.41 per share on sales of $955.19 million. During the first quarter, the company purchased 2,000,000 shares of common stock at an average price of around $40.93 per share. The average estimate among 23 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.43 per share and revenue of $980.25 million. Fastenal shares climbed 3.72 percent to $41.51 in pre-market trading.