FAST vs LOW
Fastenal Co. and Lowes Companies Inc., side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | FAST | LOW |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $8.2B | $86.3B |
| Net income | $1.3B | $6.7B |
| Gross margin | 45.0% | 33.5% |
| Net margin | 15.3% | 7.7% |
| Return on equity | 33.3% | · |
| Diluted EPS | $1.09 | $11.85 |
| Dividend / share | $0.88 | $4.75 |
| Payout ratio | 79.8% | 39.6% |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $7.7B |
| Equity | $3.9B | $-9.9B |
| Net debt / equity | −0.04× | · |
| Current ratio | 4.85× | 1.08× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 7.7% | −0.8% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | 7.9% | 2.7% |
LOW bills 10.5× the revenue of FAST, and FAST keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (15.3% against 7.7%).
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 | LOW |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $8.2B | $86.3B |
| FY2024 | $7.5B | $83.7B |
| FY2023 | $7.3B | $86.4B |
| FY2022 | $7.0B | $97.1B |
| FY2021 | $6.0B | $96.2B |
| FY2020 | $5.6B | $89.6B |
| FY2019 | $5.3B | $72.1B |
| FY2018 | $5.0B | $71.3B |
| FY2017 | $4.4B | $68.6B |
| FY2016 | $4.0B | $65.0B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | FAST | LOW |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $1.3B | $6.7B |
| FY2024 | $1.2B | $7.0B |
| FY2023 | $1.2B | $7.7B |
| FY2022 | $1.1B | $6.4B |
| FY2021 | $925.0M | $8.4B |
| FY2020 | $859.1M | $5.8B |
| FY2019 | $790.9M | $4.3B |
| FY2018 | $751.9M | $2.3B |
| FY2017 | $578.6M | $3.4B |
| FY2016 | $499.4M | $3.1B |
19 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −$78,085,500,000 | LOW |
| FY2024 | −$76,128,000,000 | LOW |
| FY2023 | −$79,030,300,000 | LOW |
| FY2022 | −$90,078,400,000 | LOW |
| FY2021 | −$90,239,100,000 | LOW |
| FY2020 | −$83,949,700,000 | LOW |
| FY2019 | −$66,814,300,000 | LOW |
| FY2018 | −$66,343,900,000 | LOW |
| FY2017 | −$64,228,500,000 | LOW |
| FY2016 | −$61,055,000,000 | LOW |
| FY2015 | −$55,204,800,000 | LOW |
| FY2014 | −$52,489,493,000 | LOW |
| FY2013 | −$50,090,894,000 | LOW |
| FY2012 | −$47,387,423,000 | LOW |
| FY2011 | −$47,441,141,000 | LOW |
| FY2010 | −$46,545,529,000 | LOW |
| FY2009 | −$45,289,670,000 | LOW |
| FY2008 | −$45,889,575,000 | LOW |
| FY2007 | −$46,221,181,000 | LOW |
LOW 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 | +7.6 pp | FAST |
| FY2024 | +6.9 pp | FAST |
| FY2023 | +6.8 pp | FAST |
| FY2022 | +8.9 pp | FAST |
| FY2021 | +6.6 pp | FAST |
| FY2020 | +8.7 pp | FAST |
| FY2019 | +8.9 pp | FAST |
| FY2018 | +11.9 pp | FAST |
| FY2017 | +8.2 pp | FAST |
| FY2016 | +7.8 pp | FAST |
| FY2015 | +9.0 pp | FAST |
| FY2014 | +8.4 pp | FAST |
| FY2013 | +9.2 pp | FAST |
| FY2012 | +9.5 pp | FAST |
| FY2011 | +9.3 pp | FAST |
| FY2010 | +7.6 pp | FAST |
| FY2009 | +5.8 pp | FAST |
| FY2008 | +7.4 pp | FAST |
| FY2007 | +5.5 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
LOW's net margin has been more volatile than FAST's over the 19 comparable fiscal years — 1.8 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
LOW's return on equity has been more volatile than FAST's over the 14 comparable fiscal years — 87.1 percentage points of standard deviation against 4.4.
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 LOW over these 14 fiscal years — FAST led in 8 and LOW in 6.
14 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.