Fastenal (FAST), a business that deals in industrial supplies, reported stats for the fourth quarter on Tuesday. According to TheFly, the management team did not impress Wall Street's analysts. They were looking for 45 cents per share. Alas, the company came in shy of that number by the proverbial penny. However, as Benzinga notes, the year-over-year growth in net income was well over 40%.

Plus, the price action in the stock was quite nice after the release. Shares closed higher by 1.8% to a quote of $60.95. The 52-week high for the shares is $61.53. Volume was strong.

Analyst Upgrades

• Amgen (AMGN) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Tutor Perini (TPC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Covidien (COV) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Sara Lee (SLE) and Comcast (CMCSA) to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) to outperform from sector perform at FBN Securities.

The earnings season kicked off last week with better-than-expected results from Alcoa (AA) and Yum! Brands (YUM), while Marriott (MAR) and Pepsico (PEP) met consensus EPS estimates. This week, bellwether companies Intel (INTC), General Electric (GE), Google (GOOG) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) are scheduled to report their third-quarter results, and analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings growth from all of them.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel announced the acquisition of McAfee and joint ventures with General Electric and Nokia (NOK) during its third quarter. Analysts forecast earnings for that period to come to 50 cents per share, which is up 34.0% from the same period of last year. The number one semiconductor maker's revenue for the three months ended in September is expected to total $11.0 billion, or 17.1% more than a year earlier. Looking ahead to the full year, the forecast thus far is for earnings of $1.94 per share (+44.8%) and $43.3 billion in revenue (+23.4%). The per-share earnings topped analysts' expectations in the past four quarters, by as much as a dime per share.

Option traders appear to be setting up for a bullish move on iShares Barclays 7 to 10 Year Treasury (IEF). Traders plowed into 4,342 new call option contracts -- 3.33 times the average volume -- on the stock on Wednesday. And we know that traders were eager to get into this trade because 99% of the trades came in on the ask price.

It looks like traders are trying to get into these Treasuries ahead of the Fed, just in case it moves ahead with more quantitative easing. The ETF closed Wednesday at $97.39, down 0.17% during the past month.

Back in October of last year, I wasn't bullish on Fastenal (FAST). Today, though, things could be different after the company, which sells all kinds of industrial products (think tools, motors, chemicals, paints, etc.), reported its second-quarter numbers on Tuesday. The figures do tell a story of a nice rebound.

According to the corporate press release, the top line increased 20%, and the bottom line advanced 62% to 47 cents per share. The Fly says the latter went beyond expectations by three solid pennies. Shareholders have got to be happy with these stats.

I found an interesting article over on Barron's that takes a look at Fastenal (FAST) and its prospect for a good year thanks to the perceived economic recovery.

The article notes that Fastenal had a rather difficult year last year as the company was "hammered" (their pun, not mine) by the recession. The company saw sales drop 17.5% and profit drop 34.1%. Last year, the company took on cost controls, cut its workforce, and cut hours for its employees. According to the article, these measures helped, as Fastenal saw daily revenue increase 2.4% in January and 4.4% in February, which was the company's first year-over-year sales gains since late 2008. The article adds that the company's balance sheet is "another big plus," with no debt and a dividend that produces a 1.7% yield.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) higher Q3 earnings topped expectations but revenue was in line.
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) posted better-than-expected Q3 results, but shares sold off.
• Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) was downgraded on concerns about its Q4 guidance.
• Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) shares fell after it posted a deeper-than-expected quarterly loss.
• Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) fell victim to profit taking despite reporting better-than-expected earnings.
• CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) better-than-expected Q3 earnings sent shares higher, despite a decline in revenue.

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST), a company that sells supplies to the construction industry and whose colleagues include W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW) and MSC Industrial Direct Co. (NYSE: MSM), didn't do so well in its third quarter. According to Reuters, per-share profit missed expectations by a penny, coming in at 32 cents. Net sales, however, met expectations at $489 million.

A comparison of this year's data to last year's results also indicates a rather tepid performance. Fastenal earned 49 cents per share in the year-ago period according to the actual press release. In addition, the current quarter's top line saw a decline of well over 20%. The economy is limiting Fastenal's ability to grow, no question about that.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVID) sees strong Q1 results driven by Guitar Hero.
• Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) raised its Q2 earnings guidance ahead of its report.
• Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) strong Q4 and full-year results included a record quarterly revenue.
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) posted better-than-expected results despite a big loss on further write-downs.
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) reported better-than-expected results and offered a soft outlook (see transcript).
• Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) posted strong Q2 earnings despite the housing slump but lower revenues.
• Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) posted strong Q2 results on expansion in Mexico and China.
• Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) beat Q2 expectations despite profit and revenue declines.
• International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) easily topped Wall Street earnings expectations.
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) beat Q2 estimates and raised its full-year forecast (see transcript).
• Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) warned of lower Q2 earnings due to energy and distribution costs.
• Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) reported worse-than-expected Q2 results on further write downs.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) earnings surged but investors were put off by its full-year guidance.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) reaffirmed its guidance following the Kimberly-Clark warnings.
• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) beat Q2 estimates, lifting shares from a recent 52-week low.
• ValueClick Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) posted weak results and warned about the second half of the year.

For more highlights from this week, see: Google, Intel, JPMorgan, Coca-Cola, Nokia and others

The earnings crunch continues next week. Among companies scheduled to report are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Texas Intruments (NYSE: TXN), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Wachovia (NYSE: WB), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Hershey (NYSE: HSY), and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

• PDUFA date for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY)'s supplemental Biologics License Application for Orencia for the treatment of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5pm.

• Chattem Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.
• FOMC to release minutes of the March 18th meeting at 2:00pm.
• Embraer-Empr Bras Aeronautica (ADR) (NYSE: ERJ) conference call to announce new midsize & midlight executive jet concepts at 6:00pm.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup initiated Smart Balance (NASDAQ: SMBL) with a Hold rating and $9 target, as they believe success of the company's new products is not a foregone conclusion and prefers to wait for increased visibility before becoming more positive on the name.
  
• JP Morgan believes Cascal NV (NYSE: HOO) will leverage its global scale and expertise in water infrastructure markets to drive 25% annual EPS growth through 2010. The firm has an Overweight rating on the stock.
  
• Ashland (NYSE: ASH) was started with a Positive rating as Susquehanna, as they are positive on ASH's earnings power. The firm views shares as a compelling risk/reward opportunity.

• Broadpoint assumed SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF) with a Strong Buy rating and $12 target.
  
• Morgan Stanley initiated Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) with an Equal Weight rating and $40 target.
  
• RBC Capital started Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) with a Sector Perform rating and $80 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman and at Broadpoint following the acquisition by IBM (NYSE: IBM).
  
• Baird downgraded MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE: MSM) and Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) to Neutral from Outperform, as they expect the difficult U.S. manufacturing environment to constrain shares.
  
• Credit Suisse lowered its rating on Royal Kpn (NYSE: KPN) to Neutral from Outperform based on Getronics integration risk and slowing mobile earnings momentum.
  
• Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP) was downgraded to Buy from Aggressive Buy at KeyBanc based on valuation and concerns on 1H08 comps.

• Goldman removed Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Gabelli downgraded shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) to Sell from Buy.
  
• Stifel lowered its rating on Amerigroup (NYSE: AGP) to Hold from Buy.

Fastenal Company's (NASDAQ:FAST) reduction of its growth estimates for 2007 from 20.2% to 16.9% may not have been encouraging for some -- analysts at Robert W. Baird maintained a neutral rating but reduced the target price from $46 to $43 -- but Morningstar sees good things for the company.

Morningstar has selected FAST's Will Oberton as the CEO of the Year for 2006, on the basis of the company's financial track record, corporate governance, history of creating shareholder value, and growth potential.

A supplier of manufacturing and construction equipment and supplies, FAST got its start some 40 years ago as a producer of fasteners, and now has about 2,000 stores in North America. It has reported compounded earnings at almost 30% annually since its IPO in 1987, while generating returns on invested capital of more than 20%. And the company's share price has kept pace with its financials, also compounding at about 30%.

Oberton has been aggressive about improving FAST since he became CEO, with programs such as overhauling its stores to increase traffic and sales, to centralizing accounts-receivable collection and bringing more of the company's transportation needs in-house. Some of these initiatives have hurt the company's margins over the past few quarters, which may be why Wall Street soured on Fastenal a bit last year.

Besides FAST's long-term growth potential, Morningstar also picked Oberton for his model corporate stewardship, citing the company's superb financial disclosures, reasonable compensation, and minimal option issues. In short: he's not an overpaid, rock-star CEO.