What is an income statement waterfall?

An income statement waterfall is a bar chart that walks from total revenue down to net income, with each step showing how much a cost or tax line removes (or adds). Subtotals — gross profit, operating income, pre-tax income — are anchored to zero so the cascade reconciles exactly to the bottom line.

How much of Fastenal (FAST) revenue becomes net income?

For TTM through Q2 2026, Fastenal turned $8.75B of revenue into $1.35B of net income — a net margin of 15.5%. The waterfall shows where the rest goes: cost of revenue, operating expenses, non-operating items, and taxes.

What are Fastenal (FAST) gross, operating, and net margins?

For TTM through Q2 2026, Fastenal reported a gross margin of 44.7%, an operating margin of 20.3%, and a net margin of 15.5%. Each subtotal in the waterfall corresponds to one of these margins.

Why does Fastenal (FAST) have such a high (or low) gross margin?

Gross margin (gross profit ÷ revenue) reflects how much of each revenue dollar remains after direct production costs. Capital-light software and platform businesses often show gross margins above 60–80% because their cost of revenue is mainly hosting and support. Hardware, retail, and commodity businesses show lower gross margins because raw materials and manufacturing costs are significant. The waterfall makes this visible at a glance — the size of the "Cost of Revenue" bar relative to Revenue is the gross margin complement.

What is the difference between gross, operating, and net margin?

Gross margin = (Revenue − Cost of Revenue) ÷ Revenue. It measures production efficiency. Operating margin = Operating Income ÷ Revenue. It adds operating expenses (R&D, S&M, G&A) and measures the profitability of core operations. Net margin = Net Income ÷ Revenue. It also includes interest, other income/expense, and taxes, and represents the shareholder take after everything.

Fastenal (FAST) Income Statement Waterfall

Revenue

$8.75B

Gross Margin

+44.7%

Operating Margin

+20.3%

Net Margin

+15.5%

Income statement waterfall for Fastenal (FAST) — TTM through Q2 2026

Net income: $1.35B

Margin breakdown for Fastenal (FAST) — TTM through Q2 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Revenue	$8.75B	$8.75B
Cost of Revenue	-$4.84B	$3.91B
Gross Profit	$3.91B	$3.91B
Operating Expenses	-$2.14B	$1.78B
Operating Income	$1.78B	$1.78B
Other Income / Expense	$400K	$1.78B
Pre-tax Income	$1.78B	$1.78B
Income Tax	-$424M	$1.35B
Net Income	$1.35B	$1.35B

Revenue$8.75B
Cost of Revenue-$4.84B
Gross Profit$3.91B
Operating Expenses-$2.14B
Operating Income$1.78B
Other Income / Expense$400K
Pre-tax Income$1.78B
Income Tax-$424M
Net Income$1.35B

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