MSM US Russell 1000 Earnings call
MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) · Q2 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $120.87 · 2026-11-11
Results Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026 · previous quarter · fiscal Q3 2026 · published 1 Jul 2026 and 1 Apr 2026
Net income up 89.2% on the previous quarter. Management sounded cautious, in its script and in answers to analysts.
Only a basic analysis is available for this company at the moment.
1 · Numbers
+89.2%
Net income vs Q1 2026
Outlook given
Net income 80.4M vs 42.5M
Revenue +14.1%
Against the same quarter last year (Q2 2025) it is +41.4% — part of the move on last quarter is seasonal.
2 · How management spoke
Cautious
Among the least upbeat of all company calls
Answers to analysts: very upbeat, in line with the script.
Similar to last call.
3 · What stood out
Key theme
Vending per unit revenue increased by high single digits as the company capitalizes on industrial trends and a completed restructuring process.
Valuation
Is MSC Industrial Direct undervalued?
Reverse DCF. Free cash flow from the last full fiscal year (2025-08-30), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 0.7% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $38.67 a share — the stock trades 213% above it. Today's price assumes 13.7% growth a year.
Current price
$120.87
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+13.7% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$38.67
Buy below
$29.01
Price vs fair value
Overvalued >200%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued >200%
Read between the lines
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Guidance
MSC Industrial Direct now expects depreciation and amortization expense of approximately $100 million versus its prior expectation of $90 million to $100 million.
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Guidance
MSM expects to see volume growth in its updated guidance for Q3 2026.
Source quote
“Now what we expect to see is the volume growth.”
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Figure
Fiscal third quarter sales reached $1.047 billion, which exceeded expectations and grew 7.8% year-over-year.
Source quote
“Fiscal third quarter sales of $1.047 billion came in above our expectations and improved 7.8% year-over-year.”
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Dropped
The company no longer emphasizes the detailed warm handoff and transition of from one team member to another during the transition process.
Source quote
“We planned a very detailed warm handoff and transition of from one team member to another.”
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q2 2026. Ring: Q1 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“Average daily sales exceeded expectations with year-over-year growth of 7.8%, underpinned by continued strength in the daily sales of our core customer and noticeable improvement in national accounts.”
“A portion of this improvement is being driven by daily sales growth in the double-digit range on mscdirect.com.”
“And looking at average daily sales in vending and in-plant on a per unit basis, we were up high single digits, which implies volume improvement — a good gauge on...”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-05-30)
| Metric | Q2 2026period end 2026-05-30 | Q1 2026period end 2026-02-28 | Change | Q2 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1.05B | 917.8M | +14.1% | 971.1M | +7.8% |
| Gross profit | 430.4M | 377.6M | +14.0% | 397.7M | +8.2% |
| Operating income | 106.7M | 64.8M | +64.8% | 82.7M | +29.0% |
| Net income | 80.4M | 42.5M | +89.2% | 56.8M | +41.4% |
| EPS | 1.44 | 0.76 | +89.5% | 1.02 | +41.2% |
| P/E today 31.4 | 26.4 | 25.2 | +1.2 | 22.9 | +3.5 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- MSC Industrial Direct has also instituted new sales management processes throughout the selling organization.
- I'm confident that MSC is headed in the right direction to enhance MSC Industrial Direct's long-term profitable growth algorithm and create…
- MSC Industrial Direct's sales force optimization initiative was completed in December with actions taken to streamline and professionalize…
- Its growth forum pipeline has $500 million in opportunities and MSC Industrial Direct converted about 10% of that on an annualized basis.
- New MSC Industrial Direct has a road map mapped out for '27 that gets us closer to that benchmark.
Faded since Q1 2026
- Fading To recap, in fiscal year '25, MSC Industrial Direct took actions designed to bring head count levels more in line with an...
- Fading As MSC Industrial Direct previously shared, at the end of 1Q and early 2Q, it completed the last round of structural changes...
- Fading MSC Industrial Direct is building an engine that will deliver sustainable organic growth for the long term, and I feel very confident…
- Fading In order to do MSC Industrial Direct has to accelerate organic sales growth, which is behind this first range of initiatives, and...
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first.
- Director or officer change; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Director or officer change · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Director or officer change · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Director or officer change; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K