Steel Dynamics third-quarter profit rises to $756 million on record shipments

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) said Monday in a press release attached to a regulatory filing that third-quarter 2026 net income was $756 million, or $5.26 per diluted share.

Net sales were $6.5 billion, up from $4.8 billion a year earlier. Steel shipments totaled a record 3.8 million tons, compared with 3.6 million tons a year earlier.

Here's how the company did:

• Diluted earnings per share: $5.26 vs. $2.74 a year earlier
• Net sales: $6.51 billion vs. $4.83 billion a year earlier
• Net income attributable to Steel Dynamics, Inc.: $756 million vs. $404 million a year earlier
• Operating income: $1.01 billion vs. $508 million a year earlier
• Adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, adjusted for non-cash items: $1.19 billion vs. $664 million a year earlier
• Cash flow from operations: $846 million vs. $723 million a year earlier

Net income was up from $534 million, or $3.69 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2026.

“Throughout the third quarter 2026, steel prices continued to improve and the teams executed well across our steel platform, driving a sequential quarterly increase in consolidated operating income of $306 million, or 44 percent,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark D. Millett.

Operating income for the steel operations was $1.0 billion, 43 percent higher than in the second quarter, according to the filing. The average external selling price rose $102 sequentially to $1,400 per ton, from $1,119 a year earlier.

The average ferrous scrap cost fell $8 per ton sequentially to $404 per ton. The company said the energy, non-residential construction, automotive and industrial sectors led steel demand in the quarter.

Steel fabrication operating income was $91 million, up from $85 million in the second quarter and down from $107 million a year earlier. The company said its order backlog is 50 percent higher than a year ago and extends into the second quarter of 2027.

Metals recycling operating income was $33 million, $15 million lower than in the second quarter, on lower ferrous scrap pricing and metal spread contraction. The figure compares with $32 million a year earlier.

Aluminum operations posted an operating loss of $26 million, a 21 percent improvement on the second quarter, as startup costs continued. Aluminum net sales were $476 million, up from $71 million a year earlier.

“Our Aluminum platform was EBITDA breakeven for the quarter,” Millett said. Flat-rolled sheet shipments were 55,000 metric tons, and hot band production rose to 91,000 metric tons.

Volumes ran less than expected over a number of weeks because yield losses rose at higher operating speeds, the company said. It said the cause was a change in hot strip mill rolling coolant composition, which has been made, and that no ongoing additional costs are expected.

The first of two Continuous Annealing and Solution Heat (CASH) lines is operating and is expected to ship finished automotive products before the end of the year. The second line is to be commissioned in the coming months and become operational early in the first quarter of 2027.

In the quarter, the company generated $846 million of cash from operations. It invested $150 million in capital projects, paid $76 million in cash dividends and repurchased $276 million of its common stock. Liquidity was $2.4 billion as of Sept. 30, 2026.

For the first nine months of 2026, net income was $1.7 billion, or $11.72 per diluted share, compared with $920 million, or $6.17 per diluted share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 29 percent to $17.8 billion.

Operating income for the first nine months rose 93 percent to $2.2 billion. Steel operations contributed $2.3 billion of that, compared with $1.1 billion a year earlier, the filing showed.

Dividends declared were $0.53 per share in the quarter, compared with $0.50 a year earlier. Over the nine months, the company repurchased $591 million, or two percent, of its outstanding common stock.

The release contained no numeric guidance. In its outlook, the company said it expects steel and aluminum consumption to benefit from continued investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and data centers.

“Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond, we remain optimistic regarding the domestic steel and aluminum industries,” Millett said.

The company will hold a conference call on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to discuss the results. A replay will be available on its website until Oct. 27, 2026.