FAST
Fastenal Company
FAST has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
VRT
Vertiv Holdings Co
VRT has the edge over FAST overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
FAST Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
FAST's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
VRT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
VRT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
FAST PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 28x | $34.70 | -38% |
| Fair | 34x | $41.55 | -25% |
| Forward | 40x | $55.55 | — |
| Expensive | 41x | $49.86 | -10% |
| Current | 45x | $55.55 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
FAST's PE is in its expensive range at 45x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 40x next year's earnings.
VRT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 23x | $210 | — |
| Current | 39x | $210 | — |
| Cheap | 58x | $308 | +47% |
| Fair | 72x | $383 | +83% |
| Expensive | 88x | $472 | +125% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
VRT has the edge over FAST in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
FAST Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for FAST, with profitability holding steady.
VRT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
VRT has the edge over FAST on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
FAST Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.38 | +13% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.23 | +16% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.17 | +14% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.13 | +13% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.09 | +9% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.06 | +6% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.03 | +3% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.00 | -1% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.00 | -1% |
FAST earned $1.23 per share over the past year, up 16% from the year before.
VRT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.14 | +71% |
| Q3 2026 | $5.35 | +102% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.42 | +111% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.98 | +131% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.41 | +166% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.65 | +75% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.09 | +62% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.72 | +64% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.28 | +7.6% |
VRT has the edge over FAST on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
FAST Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.5B | +15% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.4B | +15% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.2B | +12% |
| Q4 2025 | $2B | +11% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.1B | +12% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.1B | +8.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $2B | +3.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.8B | +3.7% |
FAST's revenue has grown year over year for 21 quarters in a row: $2.5B last quarter, up 15% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 22% | +0.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | +0.1 points |
| Q1 2026 | 20% | +0.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 19% | +0.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 21% | +0.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 21% | +0.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | 20% | -0.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | -1.2 points |
FAST's operating margin was 22% last quarter, up 0.9 points from the same quarter a year ago.
VRT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.3B | +61% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.3B | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.6B | +30% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.9B | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.7B | +29% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | +35% |
| Q1 2025 | $2B | +24% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.3B | +26% |
VRT has the edge over FAST on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 23% | +3.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 19% | +2.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 17% | +2.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 20% | +0.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 19% | +1.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 17% | -0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 14% | +1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | +4.2 points |
VRT has the edge over FAST on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
FAST Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $347.6M | +6.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $201.6M | -3.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $319.5M | +55% |
| Q4 2025 | $308.1M | +38% |
| Q3 2025 | $326.6M | +38% |
| Q2 2025 | $209.3M | +3.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $206.5M | -27% |
| Q4 2024 | $222.6M | -30% |
FAST's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $1.2B over the past year, up 22% from the year before.
VRT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $654.9M | +41% |
| Q2 2026 | $926.5M | +233% |
| Q1 2026 | $654.2M | +145% |
| Q4 2025 | $885.6M | +143% |
| Q3 2025 | $463.5M | +36% |
| Q2 2025 | $277.9M | -19% |
| Q1 2025 | $266.8M | +162% |
| Q4 2024 | $364.5M | +18% |
VRT has the edge over FAST on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
FAST Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -179K shares |
| 1 year | -0.1% | -934K shares |
| 3 years | +0.3% | +3.9M shares |
| 5 years | -0.4% | -4.4M shares |
| Available history | +0.1% | +1.2M shares |
FAST has the edge over VRT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $30.5M |
| Q2 2026 | $30M |
| Q1 2026 | $20.3M |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | — |
| Q4 2022 | $93.2M |
| Q3 2022 | $95.3M |
VRT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -64.9K shares |
| 1 year | +0.4% | +1.8M shares |
| 3 years | +1.1% | +4.4M shares |
| 5 years | +10% | +36M shares |
| Available history | +63% | +152M shares |
VRT has 393M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | $599.9M |
FAST Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.0x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | -0.0x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.0x | Net Cash |
FAST has more cash than debt.
VRT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.0x | Healthy |
VRT has the edge over FAST on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
FAST Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 73.1 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 82.4 | Overbought |
FAST's weekly RSI is 73 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 82 (overbought).
VRT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 26.4 | Neutral |
VRT's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 26 (neutral).
FAST PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | FAST | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 45x | 24x | 88% above |
| PE % | 97 | 58 | 39 pts above |
FAST is trading at 45x earnings, a 88% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
VRT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | VRT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 39x | 24x | 63% above |
| PE % | 3 | 58 | 55 pts below |
VRT has the edge over FAST on valuation relative to its sector.
FAST Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $51.9 | 7% above |
| 20 week MA | $50.1 | 11% above |
| 50 week MA | $46.9 | 19% above |
| 100 week MA | $44.3 | 25% above |
| 200 week MA | $38.1 | 46% above |
FAST has the edge over VRT on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
VRT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $221.8 | 5.5% below |
| 20 week MA | $254.4 | 18% below |
| 50 week MA | $253.9 | 17% below |
| 100 week MA | $189.1 | 11% above |
| 200 week MA | $123.5 | 70% above |
VRT has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 70% above its 200-week average.
FAST Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $18.5 | $24.8 | +34% |
| 2021 | $24.8 | $31.3 | +26% |
| 2022 | $31.3 | $23.9 | -24% |
| 2023 | $23.9 | $32.4 | +36% |
| 2024 | $32.4 | $36.5 | +13% |
| 2025 | $36.5 | $41.6 | +14% |
| 2026 YTD | $41.6 | $55.6 | +34% |
FAST has the edge over VRT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
VRT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $10.9 | $18.9 | +73% |
| 2021 | $18.9 | $24.9 | +31% |
| 2022 | $24.9 | $12.8 | -48% |
| 2023 | $12.8 | $48.0 | +275% |
| 2024 | $48.0 | $115.1 | +140% |
| 2025 | $115.1 | $167.6 | +46% |
| 2026 YTD | $167.6 | $209.6 | +25% |
VRT's yearly returns have swung widely, from +275% in 2023 to −48% in 2022. It's up 25% so far in 2026.