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Fastenal earnings quality score

How much of the reported profit is backed by cash, and how many markers of managed earnings the filings show

Score64 / 100 · grade C · rank 567 of 1027

Fastenal (FAST) scores 64 of 100 for earnings quality, grade C: rank 567 of 1027 companies and 84 of 141 in consumer-disc. It loses the most points on accruals of -0.8% of assets, higher than 81% of companies, discretionary accruals of -4.6% of assets (modified Jones), larger than most, Montier C-score 2 of 6 checks failed. It earns full or near-full marks for Piotroski F-score 8 of 9, adjusted earnings 1% below GAAP, Beneish M-score -2.37: clean (below −2.22).

What earned and lost points

ComponentWhat the filings showPointsOf
Accrualsaccruals of -0.8% of assets, higher than 81% of companies420
Beneish M-scoreBeneish M-score -2.37: clean (below −2.22)1515
Dechow F-scoreDechow F-score 1.36 (above normal)1115
Montier C-scoreMontier C-score 2 of 6 checks failed1015
Discretionary accrualsdiscretionary accruals of -4.6% of assets (modified Jones), larger than most410
Piotroski F-scorePiotroski F-score 8 of 9910
Non-GAAP gapadjusted earnings 1% below GAAP1010
Earnings smoothnessprofit far steadier than cash flow (smoothness 0.32)15
FAST: share of the available points, by componentFAST: share of the available points, by componentAccruals20%Discretionary accruals36%Beneish M-score100%Dechow F-score75%Montier C-score67%Piotroski F-score89%Non-GAAP gap98%Earnings smoothness24%

How the score is built

Eight published measures, each scored against the whole universe or on its own scale and weighted: accruals 20, discretionary accruals 10, Beneish M 15, Dechow F 15, Montier C 15, Piotroski F 10, the non-GAAP gap 10, smoothness 5. A measure that cannot be computed (Beneish for a bank, say) drops out and the rest is rescaled, so every company is scored on what applies to it.

Every company ranked → The full quality workbench, live → Fastenal: cash flow →

Computed from the companies’ own XBRL filings (latest fiscal year) by published formulas; a statistical screen, not an audit or an accusation. A low score means the reported profit shows more of the markers of managed or low-quality earnings than its peers. Not investment advice.