MSC Industrial Direct: It's All About Gross Margin Now

It's fair to say the market wasn't entirely happy with the third-quarter results from MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc (NYSE: MSM). The stock's double-digit drop following its earnings report on Wednesday raises red flags as to the growth prospects of the industrial sector -- industrial supply companies are always useful bellwethers of current business conditions -- but is it an MSC Industrial issue or a macroeconomic issue? Let's take a closer look at what happened in the quarter.

Starting with the headline numbers from the third quarter, it's clear that the results were broadly in line with management's expectations.

In short, revenue and earnings were good and management did a good job with operating expenses, but the issue appears to be with gross margin.

Source: Fool.com