Strength Seen in Steel Dynamics (STLD): Can Its 4.3% Jump Turn into More Strength?
Steel Dynamics (STLD) shares ended the last trading session 4.3% higher at $137.90. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 6.5% gain over the past four weeks.
Following the release of its first-quarter earnings guidance ending Mar 30, 2024, Steel Dynamics witnessed a significant surge in its stock price. The midpoint of the guidance, $3.51-$3.55 per share, indicates a sequential improvement of 35%. The company hiked its quarterly dividend by 8% to 46 cents per share.
This steel producer and metals recycler is expected to post quarterly earnings of $3.42 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -14.7%. Revenues are expected to be $4.58 billion, down 6.4% from the year-ago quarter.
While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
For Steel Dynamics, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 2.3% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. And a negative trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't usually translate into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on STLD going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Steel Dynamics belongs to the Zacks Steel - Producers industry. Another stock from the same industry, Olympic Steel (ZEUS), closed the last trading session 1.6% higher at $65.63. Over the past month, ZEUS has returned -10.5%.
For Olympic Steel , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -13.1% over the past month to $0.73. This represents a change of -36.5% from what the company reported a year ago. Olympic Steel currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
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Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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