FASTFastenal
Is it safe?
Strong, no red flags: a safe balance sheet, clean books, and quality strong.
Financially healthy, low distress risk Altman Z-score, a bankruptcy-risk model from five balance-sheet ratios.
Reported earnings show no manipulation flags Beneish M-score, a forensic model that detects earnings-manipulation patterns (receivables outrunning sales, margins slipping, accrual-heavy profit).
High fundamental quality Piotroski F-score, nine pass/fail tests of year-over-year financial health across profitability, balance sheet and efficiency. 7 to 9 is strong, 0 to 3 weak.
Insiders were net sellers (-$2.5M, 90 days to Oct 8, 2026), selling is often routine.
Net cash and profitable. A rule of thumb on leverage, not a credit rating.
Moderate price swings, typical volatility. Worst drawdown -31% · now 3% below its 52-week high.
Unless marked, from SEC EDGAR, as of Dec 31, 2025.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. Altman sits structurally low for utilities and pipelines; Beneish runs high for fast growers, since sales growth alone lifts it; banks and REITs are excluded.
Can FAST take a bad year?
Fastenal holds $85M more cash than debt, so a bad year is a question about profits, not about lenders.
Net cash
- Net debt / EBITDA
- net cash
Net debt / EBITDA · no net borrowings to measure against earnings
- Altman Z-score
- 33.16
Altman Z-score · safe zone, above 3
- Interest cover
- 394×
Interest cover · operating profit covers the interest bill several times over
Details›
- Total debtQ2 2026
- $120M
- Cash and short-term investments
- $205M
- Net cash
- $85M
- EBITDA, trailing twelve months
- $1.94B
- Operating profit, trailing twelve months
- $1.78B
- Debt / equity
- 0.03×
- Total debt / EBITDA
- 0.06×
- Annualised volatilitytwo years of daily moves
- 25%
- Worst drawdown on file
- −31%
- Below its 52-week high
- 3.1%
Balance sheet from SEC filings; drawdown and volatility from end-of-day closes; Altman Z from the filed statements.
Industrial Distribution
The closest names by size in the same industry