Fastenal Company FAST reported impressive third-quarter 2021 results. Both the top and bottom lines not only beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate but also improved on a year-over-year basis.Its shares jumped nearly 1% in the pre-market trading session on Oct 12, after it reported the results.The company witnessed strong demand for manufacturing and construction equipment and supplies, and an uptick in sales of certain COVID-19-related products. However, slower growth or contraction in sales of certain COVID-19-related products in few end markets limited the growth. Also, product pricing affected net sales by 230-260 basis points (bps) during the quarter. It continues to experience pressure related to product and transportation cost inflation.Earnings & Sales in DetailThe company reported earnings of 42 cents per share, which topped the consensus mark of 41 cents by 2.4% and grew 9.7% from the year-ago period.Fastenal Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Fastenal Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Fastenal Company QuoteNet sales totaled $1.554 billion, beating the consensus mark of $1.538 billion by more than 1% and increasing 10% from the year-ago figure of $1.413 billion.The company reported daily sales of $24.3 million, reflecting an increase of 10% year over year. On a monthly basis, daily sales improved 11.1%, 9% and 9.7% for September, August and July, respectively, year over year.Daily sales of Fastener products (mainly used for industrial production and accounting for approximately 33.4% of third-quarter sales) rose 20.2% year over year backed by higher manufacturing and construction demand. Sales of safety products (accounting for 21.1% of second-quarter sales) declined 2.9% on a daily basis. The downside was mainly due to the absence of surge-related PPE sales, partly offset by improvements in manufacturing and construction demand. Sales of the remaining products (accounting for 45.5% of third-quarter sales) grew 9.2% year over year.Vending Trends & Other Growth DriversFastenal signed 230 new Onsite locations during the first nine months of 2021. As of Sep 30, 2021, the company had 1,367 active sites, up 10.6% from the year-ago period. Daily sales through Onsite locations (excluding sales transferred from branches to new Onsites) increased more than 20% in the reported quarter from a year ago.Based on the year-to-date signings and presumption of historically lower signings for fourth quarters, the company expects signing 285-325 Onsite locations in 2021, down from its prior expectation of 300-350.Daily sales through weighted FMI devices grew 45% in the third-quarter and represented 33% of net sales.Daily sales to national account customers (representing 56.6% of total revenues) increased 16.89% on a year-over-year basis in third-quarter 2021. Daily sales to non-national account customers (which include government customers and represent 43.4% of total revenues) rose 2.2%.MarginsGross margin of 46.3% in the quarter improved 100 bps from the prior-year period. The improvement was driven by favorable product and customer mix, overhead/organizational leverage, improved product margins, and lower rebates.Also, the operating margin remained in line with the year-ago figure of 20.5%.FinancialsCash and cash equivalents were $250.5 million as of Sep 30, 2021, up from $245.7 million on Dec 31, 2020. Long-term debt at quarter-end was $330 million, down from $365 million at 2020-end.In the first nine months of 2021, cash provided by operating activities totaled $613.7 million compared with $780.8 million in the year-ago period.Zacks Rank & Other Key PicksFastenal currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Other top-ranked stocks in the Zacks Building Products – Retail industry include GMS Inc. GMS, Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. BECN, and Builders FirstSource, Inc. BLDR. While GMS sports a Zacks #1 Rank, Beacon Roofing and Builders FirstSource carry a Zacks Rank #2.GMS, Beacon Roofing, and Builders FirstSource are expected to generate earnings growth of 59.6%, 85.1%, and 108.3% for current year, respectively. Time to Invest in Legal Marijuana If you’re looking for big gains, there couldn’t be a better time to get in on a young industry primed to skyrocket from $17.7 billion back in 2019 to an expected $73.6 billion by 2027. After a clean sweep of 6 election referendums in 5 states, pot is now legal in 36 states plus D.C. Federal legalization is expected soon and that could be a still greater bonanza for investors. Even before the latest wave of legalization, Zacks Investment Research has recommended pot stocks that have shot up as high as +285.9%. You’re invited to check out Zacks’ Marijuana Moneymakers: An Investor’s Guide. It features a timely Watch List of pot stocks and ETFs with exceptional growth potential.Today, Download Marijuana Moneymakers FREE >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Fastenal Company (FAST): Free Stock Analysis Report Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN): Free Stock Analysis Report Builders FirstSource, Inc. (BLDR): Free Stock Analysis Report GMS Inc. (GMS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research