As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q3. Today, we are looking at maintenance and repair distributors stocks, starting with MSC Industrial (NYSE:MSM).

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 8 maintenance and repair distributors stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 6.9% on average since the latest earnings results.

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 $952.3 million, down 8% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 0.8%. Overall, it was a slower quarter for the company with a miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

MSC Industrial delivered the slowest revenue growth of the whole group. Interestingly, the stock is up 2.2% since reporting and currently trades at $82.52.

Read our full report on MSC Industrial here, it’s free.

Best Q3: Distribution Solutions (NASDAQ:DSGR)

Founded in 1952, Distribution Solutions (NASDAQ:DSGR) provides supply chain solutions and distributes industrial, safety, and maintenance products to various industries.

Distribution Solutions reported revenues of $468 million, up 6.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 2.9% since reporting. It currently trades at $38.88.

Is now the time to buy Distribution Solutions? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q3: 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 $67.83 million, up 8% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 3.5%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA and EPS estimates.

Transcat delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 7.3% since the results and currently trades at $110.51.

Read our full analysis of Transcat’s results here.

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 $1.91 billion, up 3.5% year on year. This number was in line with analysts’ expectations. Taking a step back, it was a mixed quarter as it also produced a narrow beat of analysts’ EPS estimates but a slight miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is up 12.2% since reporting and currently trades at $78.55.

Read our full, actionable report on Fastenal here, it’s free.

WESCO (NYSE:WCC)

Based in Pittsburgh, WESCO (NYSE:WCC) provides electrical, industrial, and communications products and augments them with services such as supply chain management.

WESCO reported revenues of $5.49 billion, down 2.7% year on year. This print met analysts’ expectations. More broadly, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also logged an impressive beat of analysts’ EPS estimates but organic revenue in line with analysts’ estimates.

The stock is up 7.4% since reporting and currently trades at $191.02.

Read our full, actionable report on WESCO here, it’s free.

Market Update

As a result of the Fed's rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has come down from frothy levels post-pandemic. The general rise in the price of goods and services is trending towards the Fed's 2% goal as of late, which is good news. The higher rates that fought inflation also didn't slow economic activity enough to catalyze a recession. So far, soft landing. This, combined with recent rate cuts (half a percent in September 2024 and a quarter percent in November 2024) have led to strong stock market performance in 2024. The icing on the cake for 2024 returns was Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential Election in early November, sending major indices to all-time highs in the week following the election. Still, debates around the health of the economy and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts remain. Said differently, there's still much uncertainty around 2025.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Strong Momentum Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

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