As the Q2 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the maintenance and repair distributors industry, including Distribution Solutions (NASDAQ: DSGR) 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 9 maintenance and repair distributors stocks we track reported a very strong Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2%.

Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 7.7% on average since the latest earnings results.

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 $502.4 million, up 14.3% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 3.7%. Overall, it was an exceptional quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA and EPS estimates.

Interestingly, the stock is up 4.3% since reporting and currently trades at $30.08.

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

Best Q2: 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 $76.42 million, up 14.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 5.7%. The business had an incredible quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and EBITDA estimates.

Transcat scored the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 6.7% since reporting. It currently trades at $73.20.

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

Weakest Q2: 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 $4.55 billion, up 5.6% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 0.6%. Still, it was a slower quarter as it posted full-year EPS guidance slightly missing analysts’ expectations and a miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 8.3% since the results and currently trades at $952.96.

Read our full analysis of W.W. Grainger’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 $2.08 billion, up 8.6% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. It was a very strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ sales volume estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

The stock is up 12.3% since reporting and currently trades at $48.60.

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

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 $358.9 million, up 3.2% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 2%. Overall, it was a stunning quarter as it also recorded a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is up 35.2% since reporting and currently trades at $36.67.

Read our full, actionable report on Global Industrial 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 U.S. 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, leaving much uncertainty around 2025.

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