Buybacks Are a Sign of Industrial Confidence

Another earnings season is underway, and it's shaping up to be an exceptionally weird one for the industrial sector.

- Brooke Sutherland

Demand remains robust. U.S. factory output rose in March by more than economists had anticipated, while companies put a higher percentage of their manufacturing capacity to work as supply chains showed signs of stabilizing, according to Federal Reserve data released on April 15. Industrial distributor Fastenal Co. reported its strongest quarterly net sales growth in at least a decade. The push to decarbonize industrial processes and localize more manufacturing work to be closer to the end customer should theoretically support elevated capital spending for years to come.

At the same time, concerns about rising inflation and the knock-on effects from China's Covid-19 lockdowns and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have many investors questioning whether the best of this manufacturing recovery has already come and gone.