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Steel Dynamics (STLD) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Steel Dynamics (STLD - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $110.46, moving +1.13% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.42%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 5.16%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the steel producer and metals recycler had lost 13.39% over the past month. This has lagged the Basic Materials sector's loss of 1.62% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.27% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Steel Dynamics as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Steel Dynamics to post earnings of $3.71 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 38.37%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.93 billion, down 11.48% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $15.20 per share and revenue of $19.58 billion, which would represent changes of -32.98% and -12.06%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Steel Dynamics. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 29.46% higher. Steel Dynamics currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Steel Dynamics has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.18 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.46, which means Steel Dynamics is trading at a discount to the group.

The Steel - Producers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 29, putting it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow STLD in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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