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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Fastenal Company vs Graco: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Fastenal Company holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across growth and profitability. Graco still has the edge on valuation, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. Both sides have seen trend damage — neither carries a clear market edge right now. With both trends damaged, the structural comparison carries most of the weight here.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-05-17

The lead is spread across growth and profitability, rather than sitting in one isolated gap. The overall score gap is 14 points in favour of Fastenal Company.

Trajectory Similarity
0.73
Similar
Peer-set rank: #93
within Fastenal Company's functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

The pair sits on a clearly comparable long-term path, though it is not a near-twin match.

The match is driven mainly by margin consistency and revenue stability.

Similarity drivers
margin consistencyrevenue stability
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
FAST
Fastenal Company
66
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
GGG
Graco Inc.
52
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: FAST vs GGG Profitability 84 54 Stability 66 59 Valuation 45 65 Growth 69 20 FAST GGG
Gap Ranking
#1 Growth +49
#2 Profitability +30
#3 Valuation +20
#4 Stability +7
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for FAST and GGG Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer FASTGGG Relative valuation Structural strength

Fastenal Company is stronger, but the price setup still looks more supportive for Graco Inc..

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where FAST and GGG each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY FAST Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 43 pct gap GGG Neutral · below norm 0th 50th 100th 89th 46th
Today GGG sits in the lower-middle of its own 5-year history (46th percentile), while FAST sits higher in its own history (89th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, GGG is at a historically more favourable entry position than FAST. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Growth
On growth, Fastenal Company ranks near the top of the group; Graco Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Profitability
On profitability, the edge is clear — both rank well, but Fastenal Company sits noticeably higher.
Growth — Dominant Gap
FAST
69
GGG
20
Gap+49in favour of FAST

The current lead is backed by a stronger multi-year growth trajectory.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Absolute pricing still looks more supportive for Graco, with a forward P/E that is 9.2 turns lower there.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both growth and profitability — though valuation still provides a counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the FAST vs GGG comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how FAST and GGG each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.