FAST vs HD
Fastenal Co. and Home Depot, Inc., side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | FAST | HD |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $8.2B | $164.7B |
| Net income | $1.3B | $14.2B |
| Gross margin | 45.0% | 33.3% |
| Net margin | 15.3% | 8.6% |
| Return on equity | 33.3% | 145.5% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.09 | $14.23 |
| Dividend / share | $0.88 | $9.20 |
| Payout ratio | 79.8% | 64.7% |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $12.6B |
| Equity | $3.9B | $12.8B |
| Net debt / equity | −0.04× | 3.75× |
| Current ratio | 4.85× | 1.06× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 7.7% | 4.5% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | 7.9% | 1.9% |
HD bills 20.1× the revenue of FAST, and FAST keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (15.3% against 8.6%).
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
10 years side by side
| Fiscal year | FAST | HD |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $8.2B | $164.7B |
| FY2024 | $7.5B | $159.5B |
| FY2023 | $7.3B | $152.7B |
| FY2022 | $7.0B | $157.4B |
| FY2021 | $6.0B | $151.2B |
| FY2020 | $5.6B | $132.1B |
| FY2019 | $5.3B | $110.2B |
| FY2018 | $5.0B | $108.2B |
| FY2017 | $4.4B | $100.9B |
| FY2016 | $4.0B | $94.6B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | FAST | HD |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $1.3B | $14.2B |
| FY2024 | $1.2B | $14.8B |
| FY2023 | $1.2B | $15.1B |
| FY2022 | $1.1B | $17.1B |
| FY2021 | $925.0M | $16.4B |
| FY2020 | $859.1M | $12.9B |
| FY2019 | $790.9M | $11.2B |
| FY2018 | $751.9M | $11.1B |
| FY2017 | $578.6M | $8.6B |
| FY2016 | $499.4M | $8.0B |
19 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −$156,482,500,000 | HD |
| FY2024 | −$151,968,000,000 | HD |
| FY2023 | −$145,322,300,000 | HD |
| FY2022 | −$150,422,400,000 | HD |
| FY2021 | −$145,146,100,000 | HD |
| FY2020 | −$126,462,700,000 | HD |
| FY2019 | −$104,891,300,000 | HD |
| FY2018 | −$103,237,900,000 | HD |
| FY2017 | −$96,513,500,000 | HD |
| FY2016 | −$90,633,000,000 | HD |
| FY2015 | −$84,649,800,000 | HD |
| FY2014 | −$79,442,493,000 | HD |
| FY2013 | −$75,485,894,000 | HD |
| FY2012 | −$71,620,423,000 | HD |
| FY2011 | −$67,628,141,000 | HD |
| FY2010 | −$65,727,529,000 | HD |
| FY2009 | −$64,245,670,000 | HD |
| FY2008 | −$68,947,575,000 | HD |
| FY2007 | −$75,287,181,000 | HD |
HD has reported the higher revenue in every one of these 19 fiscal years. The gap has widened since the earliest year compared.
19 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
19 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +6.7 pp | FAST |
| FY2024 | +6.0 pp | FAST |
| FY2023 | +5.8 pp | FAST |
| FY2022 | +4.7 pp | FAST |
| FY2021 | +4.5 pp | FAST |
| FY2020 | +5.5 pp | FAST |
| FY2019 | +4.6 pp | FAST |
| FY2018 | +4.9 pp | FAST |
| FY2017 | +4.6 pp | FAST |
| FY2016 | +4.2 pp | FAST |
| FY2015 | +5.4 pp | FAST |
| FY2014 | +5.6 pp | FAST |
| FY2013 | +6.7 pp | FAST |
| FY2012 | +7.4 pp | FAST |
| FY2011 | +7.4 pp | FAST |
| FY2010 | +6.8 pp | FAST |
| FY2009 | +5.5 pp | FAST |
| FY2008 | +8.8 pp | FAST |
| FY2007 | +5.6 pp | FAST |
FAST has kept the higher net margin in every one of these 19 fiscal years.
19 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
HD's net margin has been more volatile than FAST's over the 19 comparable fiscal years — 2.3 percentage points of standard deviation against 1.7.
19 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
FAST led in net margin in every one of the 19 comparable fiscal years — a structural lead, not a recent swing.
19 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
HD's return on equity has been more volatile than FAST's over the 14 comparable fiscal years — 295.4 percentage points of standard deviation against 4.8.
14 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in return on equity changed hands between FAST and HD over these 14 fiscal years — FAST led in 5 and HD in 9.
14 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.