As the Q1 earnings season wraps, let's dig into this quarter's best and worst performers in the maintenance and repair distributors industry, including Global Industrial (NYSE:GIC) and its peers.
Supply chain and inventory management are themes that grew in focus after COVID wreaked havoc on the global movement of raw materials and components. Maintenance and repair distributors that boast reliable selection and quickly deliver products to customers can benefit from this theme. While e-commerce hasn’t disrupted industrial distribution as much as consumer retail, it is still a real threat, forcing investment in omnichannel capabilities to serve customers everywhere. Additionally, maintenance and repair distributors are at the whim of economic cycles that impact the capital spending and construction projects that can juice demand.
The 7 maintenance and repair distributors stocks we track reported a slower Q1; on average, revenues were in line with analyst consensus estimates. Inflation progressed towards the Fed's 2% goal at the end of 2023, leading to strong stock market performance. The start of 2024 has been a bumpier ride, as the market switches between optimism and pessimism around rate cuts due to mixed inflation data, and maintenance and repair distributors stocks have had a rough stretch, with share prices down 11.6% on average since the previous earnings results.
Global Industrial (NYSE:GIC) Formerly known as Systemax, Global Industrial (NYSE:GIC) distributes industrial and commercial products to businesses and institutions.
Global Industrial reported revenues of $323.4 million, up 18.1% year on year, in line with analysts' expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' operating margin and earnings estimates.
Global Industrial scored the fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is down 19.5% since the results and currently trades at $31.
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Best Q1: Transcat (NASDAQ:TRNS) Serving the pharmaceutical, industrial manufacturing, energy, and chemical process industries, Transcat (NASDAQ:TRNS) provides measurement instruments and supplies.
Transcat reported revenues of $70.91 million, up 14.3% year on year, outperforming analysts' expectations by 3.4%. It was an incredible quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' earnings estimates.
Transcat pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The stock is down 3.5% since the results and currently trades at $119.46.
Weakest Q1: MSC Industrial (NYSE:MSM) Founded in NYC’s Little Italy, MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) provides industrial supplies and equipment, offering vast and reliable selection for customers such as contractors
MSC Industrial reported revenues of $935.3 million, down 2.7% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 1.6%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' operating margin and organic revenue estimates.
MSC Industrial had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The stock is down 21.6% since the results and currently trades at $78.01.
Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Founded in 1967, Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) provides industrial and construction supplies, including fasteners, tools, safety products, and many other product categories to businesses globally.
Fastenal reported revenues of $1.90 billion, up 1.9% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 1%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' operating margin and earnings estimates.
The stock is down 15.3% since the results and currently trades at $63.33.
W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Founded as a supplier of motors, W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) provides maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) supplies and services to businesses and institutions.
W.W. Grainger reported revenues of $4.24 billion, up 3.5% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 0.5%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' operating margin estimates.
The stock is down 5.7% since the results and currently trades at $903.74.
