Ryerson swung to loss in '24, but saw fortunes improve over the last month

Ryerson swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, but has seen a turnaround in the last 30 days.

The Chicago-based service center group reported a net loss of $4.3 million in Q4’24 ended Dec. 31 vs. net earnings of $25.8 million a year earlier. Sales fell 9.4% to nearly $1.01 billion in the same comparison.

The company shipped 353,000 short tons (st) of carbon steel in Q4’24, roughly even with 352,000 st a year earlier – but off 8% from the previous quarter.

Ryerson President, CEO, and Director Eddie Lehner said in a statement that the company was “navigating through a counter-cyclical environment, marked by depressed demand, decreasing prices, and ongoing margin compression across stainless, carbon, and aluminum commodity bellwethers.”

But, he added:

“Despite the difficult macro-metals and manufacturing environment, Ryerson gained market share across our metal mix, reduced same-store costs, and got back to good working capital management execution.”

On a Q4’24 earnings call on Friday, Lehner said the “the tailing-out effects” of these conditions were seen in January.

“Over the past 30-plus days … we have seen a significant increase in sales quote and order activity, particularly in transactional and value-added sales,” he said.

Ryerson’s bookings since mid-January are at their highest levels since the second quarter of 2021, Lehner noted.

Tariffs

Regarding President Trump’s tariffs and possible trade policy impacts, Lehner said, “It is still too early to call the magnitude and duration of what these prospective changes may bring in demand and price conditions.”

“We will know more as we move through the balance of the first and second quarters of 2025,” he added.

Ryerson has locations in the US, Mexico, Canada, and China. Because of that, analysts pressed Lehner on the call about the potential impacts of Trump’s tariffs on the company.

Lehner responded that “there will be some currency headwinds in Canada, Mexico, and China. But the majority of our revenue is generated in the US.”

There are some timing differences in terms of how it will all play out. But the company is well-positioned to navigate the situation, he said.

Outlook

For Q1’25, Ryerson expects customer shipments to increase 11% – 13% quarter over quarter.

Additionally, the company anticipates Q1’25 net sales to be in the range of $1.12 -1.15 billion, with average selling prices increasing 0% to 2% in the same comparison.