Shares of Fastenal (FAST) slipped Thursday as the distributor of fasteners and tool♛s attributed ಞlower-than-expected quarterly results to weakness in the manufacturing sector.

The company reported first-quarter 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52, with revenue increasing 1.9% year-over-year to $1.9 billion. Both were slightly below estimates. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Operating profit margin was 20.6%, also short of forecasts. Sales of fasteners dropped 4.4% from a year earlier.

CEO Daniel Florness said in an investor presentation that the “core issue remains poor demand.” He pointed to a sluggish 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), explaining that “such slow growth༒" resulted in pressure on margins and EPS. He argued that “it is difficult to sustain margins at current sales growth rates.”

Florness added that poor weather and a “tricky calendar” also affected results. He noted that Good Friday came in March for the first time in five years, and landed on the last day of the quarter. In ad𒈔dition, the company’s seasonally slow months of January and February had ex♍tra selling days, while the seasonally stronger month of March had two fewer.

Fastenal🥂 shares fell 4.3% to $71.53 as of 11:19 a.m. ET Thursday but remained up more than 12% this year.