Fastenal stock falls 5.5% as revenue comes up a bit shy, even as price increases boosted growth by up to 6.9%

Shares of Fastenal Co.
FAST,
-1.01%
slumped 5.5% in premarket trading Wedneday, after the maker of fasteners, tools and other manufacturing supplies reported second-quarter profit that matched expectations but revenue that came up a bit shy. Net income rose to $287.1 million, or 50 cents a share, from $239.7 million, or 42 cents a share. Revenue grew 18.0% to $1.78 billion. The FactSet consensus was 50 cents for earnings per share and $1.79 billion for revenue. The company said and increase in pricing helped drive about 6.6% to 6.9% of the growth in sales, as prices were raised to help mitigate inflation for its products, particularly fasteners and transportation services. The company said it didn’t make broad price increases in the second quarter, with most of the pricing boost to sales coming from actions taken in the first quarter. Separately, the company said inventory balance has increased, as “significant inflation” increased the cost of inventory and the physical quantity of stock product increased as it looked to support customers growth and supply chain need. Fastenal’s stock has dropped 15.2% over the past three months through Tuesday while the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.92%
has lost 14.1%.