Fastenal announces big 3Q increases in sales and earnings and 90 new branches

Fastenal Inc., Winona, Minn., announced double-digit increase in its third-quarter and year-to-date sales and earnings. The company’s 3Q net sales increased 23.4 percent to $630.75 million and its 3Q earning increased 57.6% to $74.99 million. Year-to-date sales are up 16.7 percent over last year to $1.7 billion and year-to-date net earnings are up 43.2 percent to $200.2 million. During the first nine months of 2010, the company opened 90 new stores (compared to 45 new stores in the same period of 2009) and now has 2,459 branches.