FASTENAL CO vs HOME DEPOT, INC., two Retail stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where FAST and HD diverge most: on revenue growth, FAST reads +12.5% and HD reads +2.2%; on debt / equity, FAST reads 0.05 and HD reads 0.25. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's FAST price has a different growth bar priced in than HD (+28.8% implied for FAST vs +7.2% for HD); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What FAST's price implies is a demanding bet versus history and the cohort (whole-company basis). What HD's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | FAST | HD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $47.72 | $332.02 |
| Market cap | $54.9B | $330.7B |
| Sector | Retail | Retail |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +28.8% | +7.2% |
| P/E | 32.7 | 23.6 |
| P/B | 13.49 | 23.84 |
| P/S | 6.27 | 1.99 |
| EV/EBITDA | 28.1 | 13.7 |
| Revenue growth | +12.5% | +2.2% |
| Gross margin | 44.6% | 33.0% |
| Operating margin | 21.0% | 11.9% |
| Net margin | 15.4% | 8.4% |
| Return on equity | 33.2% | 101.0% |
| Return on assets | 25.5% | 13.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 31.8% | 89.7% |
| FCF yield | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Dividend yield | 1.8% | 2.8% |
| Debt / equity | 0.05 | 0.25 |
| Current ratio | 4.18 | 1.04 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.67 | 5.06 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 8 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.