FAST vs. SYM: Fastenal vs. Symbotic Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM) both fall under the Capital Goods industry group, but FAST is classified in Trading Companies & Distributors while SYM is classified in Machinery.

Fastenal (FAST) has more than two decades of public-market history since August 20, 1987, whereas Symbotic (SYM) listed on March 9, 2021 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Company profile comparison for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Profile Item	FAST	SYM
Name	Fastenal Co.	Symbotic Inc. Class A Common Stock
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Industrials	Industrials
GICS Industry Group	Capital Goods	Capital Goods
GICS Industry	Trading Companies & Distributors	Machinery
GICS Sub-Industry	Trading Companies & Distributors	Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components
Market Capitalization	60.80 billion USD	22.29 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	Nasdaq	Nasdaq
Listing Date	August 20, 1987	March 9, 2021
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

FAST

SYM

GSPC

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
Total Return (1Y)	36.82%	-44.66%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	25.71%	6.78%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	15.98%	30.90%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

FAST

SYM

GSPC

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Symbotic (SYM) has a highly aggressive beta of 2.05, indicating much higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Fastenal (FAST) is defensive at 0.64 and tends to be less market-sensitive — a wide gap in beta profiles.

Risk profile metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	24.55%	78.15%
Beta (5Y)	0.64	2.05
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-30.71%	-72.46%
Avg. Volume (3M)	7.21M	1.61M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

FAST and SYM are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	1.33	-0.63
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	2.00	-0.93

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Fastenal (FAST) at 35.26% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Symbotic (SYM) at 4.39% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for FAST.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

35.26%

Max: 40.55%
FAST: 35.26%
Q3: 19.29%
Median: 12.12%
Q1: 4.08%
Min: -17.12%

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

4.39%

Max: 40.55%
Q3: 19.29%
Median: 12.12%
SYM: 4.39%
Q1: 4.08%
Min: -17.12%

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their ROE against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Fastenal (FAST) at 15.62% keeps a top-quartile share of each sales dollar as profit, while Symbotic (SYM) at 0.31% keeps a bottom-quartile share.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

15.62%

Max: 27.47%
FAST: 15.62%
Q3: 12.10%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
Min: -12.89%

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

0.31%

Max: 27.47%
Q3: 12.10%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
SYM: 0.31%
Min: -12.89%

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their net margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Fastenal (FAST) at 21.55% carries a top-quartile operating margin, while Symbotic (SYM) at 4.59% operates in the bottom quartile.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

21.55%

Max: 36.60%
FAST: 21.55%
Q3: 18.33%
Median: 11.12%
Q1: 5.14%
Min: -12.63%

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

4.59%

Max: 36.60%
Q3: 18.33%
Median: 11.12%
Q1: 5.14%
SYM: 4.59%
Min: -12.63%

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their operating margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
ROE (TTM)	35.26%	4.39%
ROA (TTM)	21.97%	0.32%
Net Margin (TTM)	15.62%	0.31%
Operating Margin (TTM)	21.55%	4.59%
Gross Margin (TTM)	44.61%	21.27%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Symbotic (SYM) at 25.65% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Fastenal (FAST) at 8.67% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for SYM.

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Only one side can be read here: Fastenal (FAST) reports EPS growth of 9.00%, ranked against its industry; Symbotic (SYM) has no EPS growth figure this period.

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
Revenue Growth (YoY)	8.67%	25.65%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	5.52%	55.87%
EPS Growth (YoY)	9.00%	--
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	4.87%	--

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Fastenal (FAST) at 3.93 carries current ratio above its industry’s typical mid-range, while Symbotic (SYM) at 1.33 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — different working-capital profiles, both worth examining.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

3.93

Max: 5.22
FAST: 3.93
Q3: 2.95
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
Min: 0.36

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

1.33

Max: 5.22
Q3: 2.95
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
SYM: 1.33
Min: 0.36

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their current ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Both Fastenal (FAST) at 0.11 and Symbotic (SYM) at 0.02 keep leverage in the lower quartile of their industries, with less balance-sheet debt relative to equity than most peers.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

0.11

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
Median: 0.60
Q1: 0.29
FAST: 0.11
Min: 0.00

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

0.02

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
Median: 0.60
Q1: 0.29
SYM: 0.02
Min: 0.00

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
Current Ratio (MRQ)	3.93	1.33
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.11	0.02
Net Debt / EBITDA	0.12	-30.44

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Symbotic (SYM) 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.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

1.81%

Max: 2.66%
FAST: 1.81%
Q3: 1.14%
Median: 0.24%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

0.00%

Max: 2.66%
Q3: 1.14%
Median: 0.24%
SYM: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Symbotic (SYM) 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.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

78.05%

FAST: 78.05%
Max: 67.39%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

0.00%

Max: 67.39%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
SYM: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
Dividend Yield (TTM)	1.81%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	78.05%	0.00%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Both look expensive on trailing earnings: Fastenal (FAST) at 43.08 sits in the richer P/E ratio quartile, and Symbotic (SYM) at 460.25 is richer still, above its industry range.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

43.08

Max: 59.38
FAST: 43.08
Q3: 35.92
Median: 25.41
Q1: 19.47
Min: 3.03

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

460.25

SYM: 460.25
Max: 59.38
Q3: 35.92
Median: 25.41
Q1: 19.47
Min: 3.03

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

Both look expensive on sales: Fastenal (FAST) at 6.70 sits in the upper P/S ratio quartile, and Symbotic (SYM) at 8.42 prices even higher, above its industry range.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

6.70

Max: 7.54
FAST: 6.70
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

8.42

SYM: 8.42
Max: 7.54
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Both look rich against book: Symbotic (SYM) at 6.70 sits in the upper P/B ratio quartile, and Fastenal (FAST) at 14.65 prices even higher, above its industry range.

FAST

Capital Goods industry group

14.65

FAST: 14.65
Max: 9.66
Q3: 5.00
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

SYM

Capital Goods industry group

6.70

Max: 9.66
SYM: 6.70
Q3: 5.00
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

Fastenal (FAST) vs. Symbotic (SYM): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Fastenal (FAST) and Symbotic (SYM)
Metric	FAST	SYM
P/E Ratio (TTM)	43.08	460.25
P/S Ratio (TTM)	6.70	8.42
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	14.65	6.70
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	1.51%	2.46%