Fast company

Minnesota-based industrial fastener supplier Fastenal jumped to a four-month high after delivering forecast-beating earnings in the second quarter.

Fastenal distributes nuts and bolts as well as screws, valves and hundreds of other hardware items via its network of over 2,000 branches and 71,000 vending machines.

Last quarter its profit jumped 42.6 percent to $0.74 per share, well above the $0.66 a share Wall Street had forecast.

Chief Financial Officer Holden Lewis told analysts in a conference call that without the lower corporate tax rate introduced last year, profit would have been $0.59 a share in the quarter.

Fastenal was founded in 1967 by Winona, Minnesota resident Bob Kierlin, who Inc. magazine once called “the cheapest CEO in America.”

Fastenal shares leapt 10.1 percent to $54.51 on Wednesday, their highest close since mid-March.