Reliance Q1 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates, Down Y/Y

Reliance, Inc. RS posted profits of $199.7 million or $3.74 per share in the first quarter of 2025, down from $302.9 million or $5.23 per share in the year-ago quarter. 

Barring one-time items, RS recorded earnings of $3.77 per share, down from $5.30 a year ago. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.66.

The company recorded net sales of $3,484.7 million, down around 4% year over year. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,456.5 million. RS benefited from higher shipments amid headwinds from weaker pricing in the quarter.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Reliance, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Reliance, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Reliance, Inc. Quote

Reliance's Volumes and Pricing

Reliance reported a 9% year-over-year increase in shipments (thousand tons sold) to 1,628.9. The figure beat our estimate of 1,538.8. Shipments were driven by strong organic growth, contributions from 2024 acquisitions and accelerated metal purchases by certain customers in advance of an anticipated rise in carbon steel and aluminum product prices.

The average selling price per ton dropped around 12% year over year to $2,143. It was lower than our estimate of $2,175. Prices also fell 1% sequentially due to product mix with a significant rise in carbon steel shipments. 

RS’ Financial Position

At the end of the reported quarter, RS had cash and cash equivalents of $277.8 million, down around 13% from the prior quarter. It ended the quarter with $1.48 billion in total outstanding debt. Reliance generated cash flow from operations of $64.5 million in the first quarter.

Reliance’s Q2 Outlook

Reliance expects demand to remain stable across the diversified end markets it serves in the second quarter, notwithstanding ongoing uncertainties regarding domestic and international economic policy. 

The company anticipates its tons sold to be down 1% to up 1% in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2025 and up 3-5% from the year-ago quarter. RS expects its average selling price per ton sold to be up 1-3% compared to the first quarter. Based on these expectations, the company anticipates adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $4.50-$4.70 for the second quarter.

RS Stock’s Price Performance

RS’ shares have lost 1.9% in the past year compared with the Zacks Mining – Miscellaneous industry’s 11.3% decline.

RS’ Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

RS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd OR and Intrepid Potash, Inc. IPI. While HWKN carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), OR and IPI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hawkins is expected to report first-quarter results on May 21. The consensus estimate for Hawkins’ first-quarter earnings is pegged at 74 cents. HWKN beat the consensus estimate in one of the last four quarters while missing thrice, with the average earnings surprise being 6.1%. 

Osisko Gold is scheduled to release first-quarter results on May 7. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OR’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 15 cents. OR has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 4.4%, on average.  

Intrepid Potash is slated to release first-quarter results on May 5. The consensus estimate for IPI’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at a loss of 12 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings has been stable over the past 60 days.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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