FAST vs. MAIR: Fastenal vs. Madison Air Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Fastenal (FAST) and Madison Air (MAIR) both fall under the Capital Goods industry group, but FAST is classified in Trading Companies & Distributors while MAIR is classified in Building Products.

Fastenal (FAST) has been public since August 20, 1987, giving it decades of market history across multiple cycles, while Madison Air (MAIR) listed only on April 16, 2026 and lacks comparable through-cycle data.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Madison Air (MAIR) has an aggressive beta of 1.60, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Fastenal (FAST) is defensive at 0.64 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Both FAST and MAIR need 1-year volatility and 1-year return to plot risk-return positioning.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Capital efficiency shows on one side only: Fastenal (FAST) earns 35.26% on shareholders’ equity, ranked against its industry; Madison Air (MAIR) has no ROE this period.

Fastenal (FAST) at 15.62% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Madison Air (MAIR) at 3.73%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

Both Fastenal (FAST) at 21.55% and Madison Air (MAIR) at 19.76% convert sales into operating profit at a top-quartile rate, pointing to tighter cost discipline before financing and tax.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Madison Air (MAIR) at 34.07% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Fastenal (FAST) at 8.67% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for MAIR.

Both Fastenal (FAST) at 9.00% and Madison Air (MAIR) at -2.32% land near their industries' usual EPS growth ranges, so bottom-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Madison Air (MAIR) at 1.82 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while Fastenal (FAST) at 3.93 sits above its industry’s typical mid-range — comfortable liquidity, though possibly with more idle current assets relative to peers.

Fastenal (FAST) at 0.11 keeps leverage in the lower industry quartile, while Madison Air (MAIR) at 0.87 runs a more typical debt-to-equity mix.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Madison Air (MAIR) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Fastenal (FAST) reports a yield of 1.81%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Madison Air (MAIR) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Fastenal (FAST) reports a payout of 78.05%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Both look expensive on trailing earnings: Fastenal (FAST) at 43.08 sits in the richer P/E ratio quartile, and Madison Air (MAIR) at 164.57 is richer still, above its industry range.

Madison Air (MAIR) at 3.09 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Fastenal (FAST) at 6.70 sits in the pricier quartile — FAST costs more per dollar of sales.

Madison Air (MAIR) at 3.17 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Fastenal (FAST) at 14.65 prices above its benchmark range — FAST looks rich relative to book.

Valuation Metrics