U.S. Steel's Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates in Q1

United States Steel Corporation X logged a loss of $116 million or 52 cents for first-quarter 2025. This compares unfavorably with a profit of $171 million or 68 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Barring one-time items, the adjusted loss per share was 39 cents against earnings of 82 cents a year ago. The figure was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 48 cents.

Revenues fell around 10.4% year over year to $3,727 million in the reported quarter but beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,621.6 million.

The company reported a total shipment of 3,759,000 tons for the reported quarter, down around 1.2% year over year. It was above our estimate of 3,484,000 tons.

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

X’s Segment Highlights

Flat-Rolled: Steel shipments in the segment went down roughly 3.1% year over year to 1,985,000 tons. The average realized price per ton in the unit was $984, down around 6.6% year over year. It beat our estimate of $960.

Mini Mill: Shipments were 782,000 tons, up around 37.7% year over year. The average realized price per ton was $761, down around 22.1% year over year. It also missed our estimate of $797.

U.S. Steel Europe: Shipments declined roughly 20.1% year over year to 856,000 tons. The average realized price per ton for the unit was $741, down around 12% year over year. It missed our estimate of $760.

Tubular: Shipments rose roughly 19.3% to 136,000 tons. The average realized price per ton for the unit was $1,729, down nearly 23.7% year over year. It surpassed our estimate of $1,643.

X’s Financials

At the end of the quarter, the company's cash and cash equivalents were $594 million, down around 56.5% from the previous quarter’s levels. Long-term debt was $4,047 million, declining 0.8% sequentially.

X’s Outlook

The company anticipates adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter to be between $375 million and $425 million. In the North American Flat-Rolled segment, performance is expected to improve due to easing seasonal mining logistics constraints and the positive impact of higher average steel prices. However, this will be partially offset by reduced shipments caused by planned maintenance and outage-related costs during the quarter.

The Mini Mill segment is projected to show better results, driven by higher average selling prices and increased volumes at BR2, despite approximately $50 million in ramp-up costs associated with BR2. In Europe, market demand remains soft, and results are expected to be similar to the first quarter. Gains from higher selling prices and volumes are likely to be balanced out by seasonal maintenance plans.

The Tubular segment is also expected to remain stable, with increased selling prices helping to offset a slight rise in costs. Overall, the company forecasts positive enterprise free cash flow for the second quarter as first-quarter working capital pressures begin to ease.

X’s Price Performance

The company’s shares have rallied 17.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s 35.9% decline.

X’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

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

Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, SSR Mining Inc. SSRM and Intrepid Potash, Inc. IPI. While HWKN carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), SSRM and IPI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hawkins is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on May 14. The consensus estimate for Hawkins’ 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%. 

SSRM is scheduled to release first-quarter results on May 6. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SSRM’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 8 cents. SSRM has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 155.7%, on average.  

Intrepid Potash is slated to release first-quarter results on May 5. The consensus estimate for IPI’s first-quarter loss is 12 cents, stable over the past 60 days.

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

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