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Steel Dynamics (STLD) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note

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Steel Dynamics (STLD - Free Report) closed at $168.11 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.98% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.11%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.07%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.22%.

The steel producer and metals recycler's shares have seen an increase of 11.27% over the last month, surpassing the Basic Materials sector's gain of 5.83% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.08%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Steel Dynamics in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $2.34, marking a 72.06% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $4.61 billion, indicating a 19.01% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $8.51 per share and revenue of $18.39 billion, indicating changes of -13.52% and +4.84%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Steel Dynamics. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.28% upward. Steel Dynamics currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Steel Dynamics is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.14. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 14.36, which means Steel Dynamics is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that STLD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.24. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Steel - Producers industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.82.

The Steel - Producers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 175, placing it within the bottom 30% of over 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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