MSC Industrial Direct gains after third-quarter earnings beat and stronger sales outlook

MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) is up 6.1% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied to a stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter report, with sales, earnings and margins all improving from a year earlier. Investors also seem to be reacting positively to management’s fourth-quarter outlook, which called for continued sales growth and solid operating margin performance.

Details:

Fiscal third-quarter net sales rose 7.8% year over year to $1.047 billion, while adjusted diluted EPS increased to $1.43 from $1.08.

Management said average daily sales finished above the high end of its outlook, helped by pricing benefits and a return to volume growth during the quarter.

Adjusted operating margin reached 10.6%, up from 9.0% a year earlier, reflecting stronger execution and improved leverage on higher sales.

For fiscal fourth quarter 2026, the company guided for year-over-year average daily sales growth of 6.5% to 8.5% and adjusted operating margin of 10.0% to 10.8%.

Sources:

SEC, MSC Industrial Supply, Investing.com

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$MSM Insider Trading Activity

$MSM insiders have traded $MSM stock on the open market 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 1 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $MSM stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

RUDINA SESERI sold 1,800 shares for an estimated $156,294

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

EARLY ACCESS

Receive MSM Data Alerts

Real-time alerts on filings, insider trades, and market signals — before everyone else.

Get Alerts →

$MSM Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 216 institutional investors add shares of $MSM stock to their portfolio, and 249 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE CO removed 3,215,970 shares (-98.8%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $296,737,551
POINT72 ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P. added 490,050 shares (+1184.6%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $45,216,913
ALYESKA INVESTMENT GROUP, L.P. removed 375,000 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $34,601,250
BALYASNY ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. added 335,797 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $30,983,989
CHARLES SCHWAB INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC removed 314,491 shares (-18.4%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $29,018,084
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS LP added 306,436 shares (+20.9%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $28,274,849
MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC added 303,070 shares (+71.2%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $27,964,268

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$MSM Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $MSM recently. We have seen 3 analysts offer price targets for $MSM in the last 6 months, with a median target of $129.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Chris Dankert from DA Davidson set a target price of $145.0 on 06/16/2026
Ken Newman from Keybanc set a target price of $129.0 on 06/02/2026
Patrick Baumann from JP Morgan set a target price of $95.0 on 02/06/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.