Fastenal beats profit estimates on steady demand for heavy equipment

Oct 12 - Fastenal beat third-quarter profit estimates on Thursday on higher demand for its heavy manufacturing equipment, sending its shares up nearly 4% in premarket trading.

Industrial supplies wholesalers have benefited from an uptick in demand from their non-residential customers as spending on manufacturing construction projects continued to recover amid efforts by the Biden administration to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States.

The Winona, Minnesota-based company reported a net income of 52 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts' estimates of 50 cents per share, as per LSEG data.

Its quarterly revenue rose 2.4% to $1.84 billion from a year earlier with the heavy manufacturing segment contributing 43.2% to the company's total sales.

Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $1.85 billion in the third quarter. (Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)