ArcelorMittal's Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates in Q1

ArcelorMittal MT recorded first-quarter 2025 profit of $805 million or $1.04 per share, down from $938 million or $1.16 in the year-ago quarter. Earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents.

Total sales fell around 9.1% year over year to $14,798 million in the quarter. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14,639.7 million. Sales were hurt by lower average steel selling prices.

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

MT’s Segment Review

NAFTA: Sales were down around 14% year over year to $2,877 million in the reported quarter. Crude steel production increased 3.4% year over year to 2.3 million metric tons. Shipments declined 5.5% to 2.6 million metric tons.

Brazil: Sales fell around 13.2% year over year to $2,648 million. Crude steel production increased roughly 0.4% year over year to 3.6 million metric tons. Shipments decreased 0.7% to 3.2 million metric tons.

Europe: Sales decreased around 8% year over year to $7,218 million. Crude steel production increased roughly 5% year over year to 8 million metric tons in the reported quarter. Shipments increased around 4% to 7.5 million metric tons.

Mining: Sales increased around 0.8% year over year to $735 million. Iron ore production totaled 8.4 million metric tons, up about 29.2% from the year-ago quarter’s levels. Iron ore shipments were up around 26.9% to 8 million metric tons.

MT’s Financials

At the end of the first quarter, ArcelorMittal had cash and cash equivalents of $5,319 million, down around 2.1% year over year. The company’s long-term debt was about $8,591 million, up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis.

MT’s Outlook

The company has maintained its current investment strategies and capital return priorities. For 2025, capital expenditures are expected to range between $4.5 billion and $5 billion, including approximately $1.4 to $1.5 billion allocated to strategic growth initiatives and $0.3 to $0.4 billion dedicated to decarbonization projects. 

The outlook for free cash flow remains favorable for 2025 and beyond, and cash flow is expected to be bolstered by efforts to optimize working capital. The anticipated completion of strategic growth projects is expected to enhance long-term EBITDA and generate higher investable cash flow. Reflecting this optimistic financial outlook and in alignment with its established capital return policy, MT has launched a new long-term share buyback program, starting with an initial tranche of 10 million shares beginning on April 7, 2025.

MT’s Price Performance

Shares of ArcelorMittal have jumped 17.8% in the past year against an 35.7% decline of the industry.

MT’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

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

Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, Contango Ore, Inc. CTGO and Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. ASM, each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong 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%. 

Contango Ore is slated to release first-quarter results on May 14. CTGO has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 213.7%, on average.  

Avino Silver & Gold Mines is slated to release first-quarter results on May 13. The consensus estimate for ASM’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 3 cents. ASM has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 94.4%, on average.  

 

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

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