Sales growth accelerated and operating profit jumped, even as pricing contributed less. But September missed street forecast and Fastenal’s seasonal benchmark. Here, we break down the quarterly results, monthly metrics and implications for industrial distributors.
Data & Analytics
Article
Is Data Really Modernization, or Just Lipstick on a Pig?
Moving flawed data to the cloud or dressing it up with a dashboard doesn’t make it modern. This piece explains why real data modernization starts with clean inputs, clear ownership and common definitions — then...
Economic Trends
Article
August U.S. Wholesale Sales Jump 1.8% as Broad Gains Continue
U.S. wholesale sales accelerated in August, rising 1.8% as 16 of 19 product categories posted monthly gains. Durable goods led the advance — especially for those tied to data centers — while inventory growth slowed considerably,...
MDM got an inside look at Global Industrial’s national trade show, where the MRO distributor’s product breadth offered a window into its growing focus on customer verticals and deeper account relationships.
Surcharges and price increases that were never meant to be permanent may still be sitting in distributors’ price books. It may be time to revisit what still holds up — and what doesn’t.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Article
September M&A Roundup: Rexel, Watsco, ORS Lead the Way
Get our rundown of every deal we published during September, along with our updated monthly deal count and breakdown of year-to-date transactions by product category.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Article
Inside Rexel’s North American M&A Push: Buying Scale and Specialization
Rexel’s newly-announced GCG acquisition extends a multiyear expansion that has strengthened its North American footprint while adding automation, connectivity and engineered services. Tracing those deals reveals how the company’s growth strategy is evolving — and...
Strategy
Article
ADI’s Next Test: Turning Integration Into Profit and Cash
ADI Global Distribution has outlined an $80 million-plus savings program and a path toward roughly $500 million in standalone adjusted EBITDA by 2030. But gross savings are not incremental profit, and growth does not automatically...
ADI’s standalone strategy is built around more than selling additional products. Its digital platform, exclusive brands, expanding categories and project services are designed to reinforce one another — helping integrators complete more of each job...
Details on the deal are very limited, but directionally meaningful toward adding a new dimension to Fastenal’s AI ambitions among distribution’s greater arms race of AI build-and-buy solutions. Here’s our analysis of what this Fastenal...
Economic Trends
Article
MDM Forecast: September Update
September brought another modest upgrade to the industry’s 2026 revenue outlook, but broader softening in 2027 projections. Most sectors saw next year’s forecasts trimmed, with an Oil & Gas upgrade cushioning the overall reduction. Get...
Fresh off its Resideo spin-off and NYSE debut, ADI CEO Rob Aarnes laid out the distributor’s next challenge: turn years of acquisitions and systems investment into a simpler, more integrated business. His playbook — consolidate...

